LG happens to be one of the largest display panel manufacturers on the planet, and is the supplier to many a leading OEM from around the world. With prices of display panels taking a hit in recent times, component makers like LG have had to bear the brunt of the price correction. The company recently declared disappointing Q4, 2015 results, but said that it expects things to improve from the second quarter of this calendar year. What’s interesting is that it’s not just display panels that are getting cheaper. Recent reports have indicated that other components like fingerprint scanners are also getting more pocket-friendly with every passing week, meaning, even entry-level devices are starting to incorporate such hardware. While the rapidly increasing numbers have, to some extent, been able to make up for the diminishing margins, component manufacturers would still like to see prices stabilizing sooner rather than later.
That time now seems to have come, at least for display panel makers, seeing as LG Display says that it believes the rapid reduction of display panel prices may soon be a thing of the past. While the company expects the downward slide in the prices to continue for a little while longer, the pace of decline will likely be lower in the current quarter, when compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The company’s chief financial officer, Mr. Don Kim, however, also said that the industry as a whole should also expect total shipments to be lower than the preceding quarter. Speaking at an investor conference in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, Mr. Kim also expressed his fear that the impending glut of display panels in the market will mean that prices will continue remain depressed in the foreseeable future.
For the uninitiated, LG Display was initially formed in the nineties as a joint venture between South Korea’s LG Electronics and Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips Electronics, to manufacture flat display panels, which were only starting to enter the consumer electronics space that was in the midst of transitioning from the then-ubiquitous CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) panels, which were found in televisions, computer monitors and medical equipment. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and is currently one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of TFT-LCD and OLED panels, as well as flexible displays.