What They Say
Omdia said that it expects display fab utilisation to drop to 73% in Q3 2022, the lowest level since 2012. In June and July, the level is expected to drop to 70% and 69% as Samsung and other TV makers have dropped their panel purchasing, also the lowest level in 10 years. The lowest previous recent level was 77% in February 2019.
What We Think
As Ross Young of DSCC has pointed out, the problem has been made worse by the decisions of LCD makers to boost capacity after the strong market in 2021. As he said at the Business Conference, the firm had to boost its estimates of capacity a lot. Had the makers ‘sat on their hands’ last year, then things would not have been nearly as bad now. (BR)