TrendForce: TV and laptop panels remained flat in May, while monitor panels rose slightly

On May 20, TrendForce released its panel price forecast for this month. Specifically: TV and laptop panel prices remained flat, while monitor panel prices rose slightly.

TV panels

Fan Boyu, vice president of research at TrendForce, said that in May, some brand customers began to revise their order requirements, and the overall purchasing volume of major brand customers in the second quarter is expected to decrease slightly by 1.5% quarter-on-quarter. Although the cost of memory is high, brand customers are still trying their best to spread their cost pressures as much as possible in all aspects of the supply chain and adjust their product mix to minimize the impact while stabilizing their purchasing momentum.

As demand slows down slightly, panel manufacturers have also responded with a strategy of regulating production capacity and producing on demand to maintain the stability of panel prices. Currently observing the price trend of TV panels in May, it is estimated that the price of full-size panels from 32 inches to 75 inches will remain flat.

Monitor panel

Fan Boyu pointed out that after entering May, the demand for display panels has remained stable, and the overall demand for the second quarter is estimated to still have room for a quarterly increase of 1%. With demand stable, panel manufacturers still actively hope that prices will maintain a large increase. However, brand customers mostly believe that demand for panels will begin to correct after June to July, so they are conservative about expanding price increases. Buyers and sellers are still negotiating a price increase range.

The current forecast for display panel prices in May is that Open Cell panels are expected to increase by US$0.2~0.4. Looking at mainstream panel module sizes, 23.8-inch FHD is expected to increase by US$0.2~0.3, and 27-inch FHD is expected to increase by US$0.2.

Laptop panels

After entering May, the demand for NB panels is still stable. Some brand customers will dynamically adjust their panel procurement momentum according to the arrival of CPUs. Based on the current observation from May to June, brand customers have the opportunity to slightly increase the scale of panel procurement.

However, even if demand remains stable, it is still difficult for panel manufacturers to take more active price actions. On the one hand, brand customers currently have a pessimistic view of demand in the second half of the year. In order to ensure stable market share, panel manufacturers will probably not be too proactive in proposing price increases. On the other hand, panel manufacturers in different regions have great differences in customer attributes and product mix, so it is difficult to form a more consistent idea on price strategies. Therefore, it is currently estimated that NB panel prices in May will remain flat overall.