Analyst: Shortage of OLEDs will affect TV market
November 17, 2021
By Chris Forrester
With Black Friday just days away – always a huge event in the sale of TV sets – a report from analysts at KB Securities says that with Samsung entering the OLED market next year there could well be a shortage of OLED panels. LG Display (LGD) is the sole supplier of the high-end TV technology.
South Korea-based investment bank KB Securities (and part of the CME Group) backs LG Display and says that it is “positive” on the business prospects for LGD.
“We remain positive about the company because we believe Samsung Electronics’ entry into the OLED TV market in 1H22 will reshape the TV ecosystem around OLED panels, disrupting the hegemony of Chinese LCD panel makers,” says KB Securities.
“Next year, the OLED TV panel market will become a seller’s market centered on LGD and its monopoly. With LGD as the sole supplier of OLED TV panels, the company’s bargaining power will grow, allowing it to begin recovering investments channelled into OLED TV panels since 2013,” adds KB Securities.
“We see OLED TVs becoming the standard for premium TVs once Samsung Electronics debuts in the market. In the global premium TV segment, OLED TV demand is growing at a fast clip (2021E: +30 per cent YoY), in sharp contrast to shrinking LCD TV demand. We expect LG’s OLED TV panel unit to post 4Q21 operating profits of KRW144.9bn (up 6.8 per cent), which should be enough to mitigate any earnings contractions caused by falling LCD TV panel prices,” concludes KB Securities.