Flat TV Crossroads: Four Directions for Breakthrough

Recently, the “2011 International Flat Panel Industry Summit Forum” jointly organized by the Liquid Crystal Branch of the China Optics and Optoelectronics Industry Association (hereinafter referred to as the "LCD Branch") and the Nikkei BP Society was held in Beijing. "LCD is at a crossroads, and the environment in which companies are located is overcast." Vice President of Samsung Electronics' LCD Business Division Xi Junheng sighed at the forum. Since last year, the industry has entered a negative profit curve.

Not only that, both upstream and downstream industries are in trouble. “At present, the color TV industry has reached a crossroads, and everyone is looking for a breakthrough. Whoever finds out first will become the winner of a new round of technology and industrial upgrading,” said Yang Dongwen, vice president of Skyworth Group.

In order to seek a breakthrough in the slowdown in industrial growth, the four major upgrade directions for flat panel TVs have emerged: energy-saving technology upgrade from CCFL backlight to LED backlight, upgrade of display technology from 2D to 3D, and application technology from digital TV to intelligent Internet TV Upgrades, even cloud terminal upgrades, and physical display technology upgrades from LCDs to OLEDs.

However, the outlook is still difficult to distinguish.

[Upstream flat panel] Next-generation flat panel display solution unveiled This forum attracted more than 1,000 corporate representatives, experts, scholars and government officials from the flat panel display industry. Delegates generally agreed that in the next five years, China's flat panel display industry will enter a new period of development, with opportunities and challenges coexisting.

Liu Ruilin, general manager of Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd., analyzed that the current technology in the field of flat panel display has been quite mature, but the profit margin has been lower, and there is little room for growth in market demand, and the overall development has been declining. The mainland flat panel display industry has advantages in terms of funds, policies, and human resources. However, it is still in the stage of following up and catching up with Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese companies in terms of technology, labor, and industrial chain support.

Wang Dongsheng, chairman of the LCD branch, said that in the recent international economic situation, China's flat panel display industry is also at a historical turning point, and the industry should form a consensus of “reinvigorating growth through innovation and cooperation” and promote the sound development of the industry.

What should be the next step? Xu Wanji, an affiliate of AU Optronics TV Display, stated that consumers' needs are concentrated in aspects such as health, energy, ease of use, multi-functionality, and fashion. Vice President of Samsung Electronics' LCD Business Division, Mr. Xi Junheng, proposed the next generation of flat panel display solutions, namely the three major solutions of the oxide TFT platform, green display platform and interactive display platform. The forum not only released solutions for implementing three-screen wireless interaction, the latest ultra-high resolution TFT-LCD exposure equipment and car navigation systems, but also demonstrated the latest technological research results, such as oxide TFTs technology, mass production of plastic substrates. Technology, improved TFT backplane mobility technology and 3D, OLED, laser display technology.

[Panel TV] Smart TVs are still waiting for the external environment to mature. Although the Chinese market will replace North America this year to become the world's largest flat-panel TV market, its growth rate has dropped from 20% last year to single digits, especially in the first half of the year. There has been a negative growth. Displaysearch predicts that even if the growth rate of TV in emerging markets is only about 6% in the next five years, the global TV industry will enter a period of adjustment for low-speed growth.

Although the color TV industry's industrial chain has entered a difficult period upstream and downstream, but almost all color TV giants have a clear judgment on the industry's future upgrade direction, that is, from the CCFL backlight to LED backlight energy-saving technology upgrades, from 2D to 3D Display technology upgrades, application technology upgrades from digital TVs to smart Internet TVs, even cloud terminal upgrades, and physical display technology upgrades from LCDs to OLEDs.

For different directions of technology and industrial upgrading, color TV giants have started to represent the future of technology in the layout, such as foreign collective wager 3D, while domestic manufacturers set off a round of "cloud TV" storm.

According to Yang Dongwen, vice president of Skyworth Group, among the four major upgrade directions, the upgrading of LED backlight and 3D display technology will occupy the mainstream upgrade direction in the next three years, while smart TV and OLED technology still need the maturity of the external environment.

Yang Dongwen pointed out that the definitions and standards of smart TVs are not unified. What is smart TV is still different opinions, and standards established by many authoritative organizations, including the open platform, operating system, and application store specifications, have not yet been issued.

Most importantly, the business model of smart TVs is not mature. According to Xie Qinyi, vice president of Displaysearch in Greater China, under such circumstances, TV manufacturers will not only advance ahead with their major R&D and product direction on smart TVs, but also affect their pace of deployment in relatively mature technologies such as LED and 3D.