Almost half of all TV panels shipped in 2015 will be purchased by Sony, Samsung Electronics or LG Electronics, according to IHS.
In 2014, these brands increased their LCD TV shipment market shares by an average of 11% YoY, purchasing 37% of all panel supply. The trend will continue this year, to 42% of all panels (110 million units).
“[T]he panel-allocation dominance of these three companies – and Samsung, in particular – will be even more pronounced, which will put more competitive pressure on smaller competitors”, said IHS analyst Deborah Yang. These companies will have a greater influence over the global panel supply and will be listed as first-priority customers by panel makers.
“For Samsung, LGE, and Sony, it makes sense to obtain large allocations and make the market tighter, especially when they dominate purchasing and can influence panel allocations”, Yang continued. TV makers prefer panel shortages to over-supply, as it can stimulate purchases.
Sony, Samsung and LG will also increase their influence over certain panel sizes this year, says IHS. They will represent more than half of all panel allocations for six of the most popular sizes, causing other makers to have trouble sourcing panels if there is a shortage. 48″, 49″ and 58″ panels, in particular, are areas where these three brands have strong purchasing power.
Analyst Comment
Of course, booking big allocations could be a problem if either a) these brands hit some problems in the market that causes them to miss their sales targets or b) the market is not as tight as it is expected to be. Although the growth in demand for TV panels was expected to be more or less in balance with the growth in supply, recent problems in markets such as Russia may impact the demand side. That could reduce the benefit of having big allocations. (BR)
