The SID/DSCC Business Conference IT Session Shows Industry Response to COVID-19

The SID/DSCC Business Conference Webinar, sponsored by Applied Materials, GE and OTI, becomes available on August 3^rd will feature over 40 different talks on all aspects of the display industry. One session of the conference will address the ways that the display industry, along with the IT industry, is responding to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic with new products and new applications to sustain and enhance productivity and to improve medical results.

The display industry has taken a central role in people’s lives during the pandemic, and the time spent on screens of all types has increased dramatically. This session will cover a download of developments in the IT Display Market including key trends impacting the notebook, monitor and tablet markets. The session will also include ways that the display industry has responded to the challenge of COVID-19 with new products and new applications.

The session entitled “IT Display Market and Specialty Applications Response to COVID-19” will feature presentations from leading analysts and manufacturers alike. The presenters are shown below and their bios are on our website and can be reached from https://www.displaysupplychain.com/events/sid-dscc-2020-business-conference-at-displayweek.

• Ryan Reith, Program Vice President, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, IDC
• Yoshio Tamura, Co-Founder and President of Asian Operations, DSCC
• David Naranjo, Director, Business Line Management, ViewSonic
• Mike Casper, CEO, FLEx Lighting
• Robert Heise, Executive VP & General Manager, GDS Global Display
• John Bowab, Vice President of Sales, TSItouch

IT Display Market and Specialty Applications Response to COVID-19 Session Presenters

Each presenter’s talk is summarized below:

• Ryan Reith, Program Vice President, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, IDC
  • The on-going pandemic has cast some new light on the world of personal computers, tablets, and PC monitors. During this session we’ll explore how the global shift toward work-from-home, education-from-home, and overall more time at home (aka lockdowns) has created some unforeseen opportunities and resurgences within these device categories. Have a look at IDC’s latest device forecasts with a focus on who is winning and losing from a vendor perspective, potential shifts in form factors, and what the outlook is for consumer, commercial, and education demand.

• Yoshio Tamura, Co-Founder and President of Asian Operations, DSCC
  • Yoshi will cover the 2020 and longer-term outlook for large-area applications. Sub-topics include:
    • Global GDP Forecast by Region
    • Worldwide Larger Area LCD and OLED Demand Forecast Updates in 2020
    • TV demand forecast by region: TV demand is better than expected in 2020
    • WW Monitor, Notebook and Tablet PC demand forecasts: IT demands are also much better than expectations in 20203. WW Larger Area LCD and OLED Demand Scenarios in 2021 and the Forecast
    • Large Area LCD and OLED Supply vs. Demand in 2020/2021 and the Forecast
    • Large area LCD will be tight in 2021 due to Korean fab downsizing?
    • Large area LCD industry integration
    • OLED TV supply and demand scenario toward the future
• David Naranjo, Director, Business Line Management, ViewSonic
  • Viewsonic provides professional and commercial displays covering a wide variety of display technologies, from projectors to LCD monitors to direct LED displays. David will describe steps Viewsonic is taking to enhance environments for work, education, and commerce in our current atmosphere and in the post-pandemic world.
• Mike Casper, CEO, FLEx Lighting
  • In this talk, Mike will reveal how recent advancements in Reflective LCDs are gaining traction in new IT products. Tablet and other hand-held devices are marketing new features which are becoming increasingly important for the new style of post-pandemic work. These displays are significantly improved over reflective displays of old and are providing LCD manufacturers with new opportunities to capitalize on underutilized fabs. Join this talk to learn more about the developments in these low power displays and how they are expanding new offerings for tablets and applications in educational, consumer, and industrial devices.
• Robert Heise, Executive VP & General Manager, GDS Global Display
  • Review of COVID-19 timeline with respect to impacts on supply chains – supply dried up
    • Impact on China and Asian supply chains – how it cascaded across sub-tier suppliers starting with CNY
    • Reminder that everyone has been consolidating their supply chains in China
    • How COVID impacted personnel and factories due to travel restrictions and infection prevention – can’t build from home
    • Market impacts – graph or animation of country shutdowns and impact on just every market –
    • Review of COVID-19 timeline with respect to impacts on markets – demand dried up

• Impact on digital signage – look at retail, digital advertising and QSR
  • With shops and restaurants closed, businesses delayed any investments in digital signage
  • With stay-at-home orders, advertising dried up, advertisers had no need to install new displays
  • Show data on food traffic, closures, by country
  • Pivot by some integrators to develop COVID applications – temp and dispenser kiosks – face mask photo booths
• Impact on Medical – compare to most other industrial segments that were also hard hit
  • Struggle to increase manufacturing for medical customers due to supply chain issues, forced mainly by sub-tiers
  • Graph of global ventilator demand increasing starting in Jan and spiking in March, planned to return back to normal in October.
• Takeaways
  • Concern of concentrating all supply chain in one country
  • Need to have multiple approved component sources from multiple continents
  • Need to identify impacts to particular industry and move quickly to find opportunities

• John Bowab, Vice President of Sales, TSItouch
  • An unintended consequence of touch screen use is they create social distancing. Ask any parent their teenagers’ preferred way to communicate! With efforts underway to “return to normal” post CV-19 there remains a need for some level of social distancing. Touch screens continue to be an ideal means to communicate information and facilitate commerce while providing the ability to maintain social distancing. Maybe the teens were on to something pre CV19.
  • Customers and end-users have expressed concerns regarding technology, social distancing, and sanitation in a COVID-19 environment. “Is it safe to use a touch screen” is a common question. The question was valid and can be addressed by doing our part to properly care for ourselves and our touch environments.
  • The better question: “is it safe not to use a touch screen” when the alternative is person to person communication in public environments.
  • Ultimately, we at TSItouch believe touchscreens are just like every other surface that needs to be cleaned. We are proud to do our part by offering numerous products and steps that can be taken to increase user confidence with public facing touchscreens. Our products include antimicrobial film, hand cleaner and screen cleaner. These products provide layers of protection while providing users piece of mind. The touch screen future is bright, and demand will continue to grow post CV-19. Companies and end-users around the world continue to recognize touch screens are a significant help in social distancing while facilitating the transfer of information and execution of commerce in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective way. Let’s do our part and continue to care for them like we do with any other element to keep our environment happy and healthy.

The IT Display Market and Specialty Applications Response to COVID-19 session is just 1 of the 9 sessions in the SID/DSCC Business Conference but will highlight critical developments in the display industry. Attendees will access presentations by the leading analysts and executives in the display industry covering the most important market and technology developments in displays. Display Week 2020 will take place from August 3-7 as an entirely virtual event. Attendee registration can be found at: http://displayweek.org/2020/Attendee/Registration.aspx.