2021 is another "bumper harvest" year for the commercial display industry. With the accelerated development of smart technology, information technology and 5G technology, especially the continuous isolation effect of the new crown epidemic on the global business communication market, commercial display products have increasingly found more "new hot spots for growth".
1. LCD large screen is more popular
In 2021, the demand scale of "large-size LCD screens" in the commercial display market will further increase. Commercial displays, as "public display applications", are naturally friendly to larger display areas. The further market growth of large-size liquid crystal display devices has formed a good resonance with the development of the commercial display industry.
For example, in the interactive display equipment market, the demand for domestic LCD blackboard products has achieved a "two-year doubling pattern" from 2020 to 2021. This has led to an upgrade in the mainstream size of LCD units from 65 inches to 85/86 inches in educational displays. More and more larger LCD interactive devices have become the best helpers for digital teaching. Similarly, in the commercial conference market, due to the greater "face" value of corporate conference rooms, this market has been focusing on larger size display product applications.
In 2021, the sales volume of conference interactive large screens once again showed a spurt of development, and for the first time surpassed the "conference projection" in the proportion of conference room display equipment. There is an absolute sales growth of nearly 200,000 in the conference large-screen market, combined with the growth of LCD blackboard, 2021 is the largest increase in the "ever" 85/86-inch LCD large-screen commercial display market.
For the popularity of large-size LCD display products, single-screen advertising applications, LCD splicing markets and other scenarios are also "more love". Especially in the wave of LCD panel price increases from the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021, the price changes of large sizes are obviously less than those of small and medium-sized sizes, which further enhances the enthusiasm and determination of customers to purchase "large-size products". In the second half of 2021, after the LCD panel entered the price reduction range and the supply was relatively excessive, more panel companies believed that "increasing the shipment of larger size specifications" is an important "competitiveness" direction, and further strengthened the development of the large-size commercial display market.
Large-size LCD display is a rare new product category that benefits from LCD panels in both price increase and price reduction cycles! And 2021 is a "big year" for the growth of large-scale production capacity in the upstream market of liquid crystal display: not only is the second 10.5/11 generation line of Huaxing Optoelectronics facing the process of capacity climbing; this year, boe's two 10.5 generation lines, Huaxing's first 10.5/11 generation line, and Hon Hai's Guangzhou Super Horizon 10.5 generation line have all been "expanded". Combined with the expansion of the 8.6-generation line and the increase in the proportion of large sizes of traditional panel wire cutting, the total supply capacity of the upstream lcd production capacity in the market of 65 inches and above in 2021 will also hit a record high.
The demand for color TVs is large, and the demand for commercial displays is also large: and in 2021, the demand for color TVs on 80+ inches has achieved 'large-scale' for the first time, which has significantly promoted the increasingly large-scale layout of the upstream industrial chain of the display, providing the necessary ammunition for the further popularization of large-size commercial displays"!
40+ splicing screens gradually withdrew from the market, the market share of 55-inch interactive screens decreased significantly, and 86-inch screens showed the trend of popularization... The trend of large-scale liquid crystal equipment in the commercial display market is particularly obvious. Industry insiders judge that according to the display area, the growth rate of the commercial display market in 2021 is more than 5 percentage points higher than that calculated according to the number of "units". More large-size LCD in 2021 is an important trend keyword in the business display industry.
2. XR enters the metaverse concept
2021 is the first year of the concept of a "metacosm". Domestic and foreign technology companies have laid out this new track. As the latest product of audiovisual technology and a new interactive model of wisdom and information world, how the metacosm is integrated with the commercial display industry has also become a hot spot in the industry.
First, the soul of Microsoft, Mr. Gates, said, "In the next two or three years, I predict that most virtual conferences will move from two-dimensional images to metacosms, a 3D space with avatars." Microsoft's chief administrative officer, Satya Nadella, said Microsoft will launch Mesh for Microsoft Teams. The platform will support the mixed reality capabilities of microsoft mesh, a virtual experience platform, as applied in the office collaboration software Microsoft Teams.
As the world's leading office software giant, Microsoft's shift is certainly iconic. Whether video conferencing will become a metaverse conference is unknown, but some video conferencing is really becoming a "metacosm".
For example, in the autumn of 2021, Haoshitong, a well-known domestic video conferencing cloud service provider, released a new cloud video solution based on the concept of "meta-universe", "Meta-Space"! The domestic office software "Cloud Building Conference Room" product is also providing a variety of different metaverse conference scenarios, and everyone can use virtual roles and "network avatars" to meet and interact in the virtual conference room.
Of course, this kind of video conferencing in the metaverse will inevitably increase the demand for XR products, but it does not completely abandon the "two-dimensional" display screen. Traditional meeting screens are still the necessary components and immersive equipment in "virtual reality" meeting rooms.
Second, another "shangxian" landing path of the meta-universe concept is a "production-level" large-screen product. Based on the LED large-screen virtual production system, it involves a wider range of virtual display and production, immersive digital environment and production technology research and development, and is driving the rapid progress of the "audio-visual and multimedia production industry" including movies, games, tv content, etc. The biggest benefit of using LED virtual production technology is to simplify the production process, save production time, and at the same time be able to integrate perfectly with more digital content and AI technology.
Third, meta-universe products, especially XR equipment, have further entered the commercial exhibition and immersive teaching market. As a differentiated experience and experimental device, this aspect can not be said that the market has "matured", but it is developing steadily. Especially for industries such as online teaching, online display, and online sales, metaverse is considered to be the "most revolutionary" business technology – hyping up commercial land in metaverse and building their own stores has become the choice of some brands.
As a platform technology for a new generation of Internet and information industry, the intersection of metaversity and business manifestation is obviously more than that. However, 2021 has already produced the application of specific business practices, mainly in the above three aspects. It is believed that with the development of metaverse technology and the popularization of concepts, the integration scenarios and fusion applications of metaversics and shangxing will inevitably increase.
3. Outdoor 8K departure
In October 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the State Administration of Radio and Television, the Central Radio and Television Station and other six departments jointly issued a notice and decided to carry out the "100 cities and 100 screens" ultra-high-definition video landing promotion activities.
This activity officially kicked off the prelude to the development of outdoor commercial display 8K. It is reported that the event will be from October 2021 to June 2023. The notice pointed out that in cities with a good industrial foundation and interest, important business districts, large comprehensive transportation hubs, Internet red landmarks, cultural venues and other places are encouraged to renovate or set up new ultra-high-definition large screens - ultra-high-definition LED display screens represented by 8K are accelerating on the market side.
At present, the development of the ultra-high-definition industry is in a highly unbalanced state. For example, in the color TV market, the domestic market of 4K color TV has accounted for more than 75%. Some high-end consumers have even begun to choose 8K color TVs. However, the 4K programs that color TVs really watch are "one or two". 8K TV channels are only available on CCTV, and the content is relatively single. For example, the engineering display market, whether it is DLP/LCD splicing, or projection fusion display, LED large screen, can easily achieve ultra-high-definition resolution of more than 8K, but the real 8K level content is not much.
Therefore, ultra-high-definition applications such as 8K are 1. The display equipment is highly mature, 2. The content industry is seriously backward, and 3. The application scenarios that fully reflect the value of ultra-high-definition are lacking. The "100 cities and 100 screens" activity is to solve this problem: outdoor large screen, using 8K technology, on display equipment, LED large screen is enough to support; at the same time, outdoor advertising or image promotion content, are "carved" content, the use of 8K and other higher standards of economic cost affordability, application value embodiment ability is stronger. ——The combination of the two aspects is a very good application scenario of ultra-high definition.
Industry insiders pointed out that at present, outdoor LED advertising screens, such as landmark advertising screens, traditional standard equipment and content have the problem of "screen pixel mosaic". If the Ultra HD solution is used, the display performance will be significantly improved. At the same time, the landmark screen also needs to be improved in terms of "appreciation": digital cultural relics exhibitions - similar to "Digital Dunhuang" and "Digital Forbidden City", ultra-high definition can truly realize its "digital carrier value of cultural relics", 8K can truly realize the details of the details, can be carefully watched for a long time to experience...
Moreover, "100 cities and 100 screens" also has a biggest advantage: that is, these large screens are in an area with a large flow of people. These areas invest a lot of money in the 8K large screen and 8K content, and the "display effect" achieved is sufficient enough to fully realize the effect of "high input and high output", and then overcome the "cost bottleneck" in the early stage of the development of the ultra-high-definition industry.
In short, based on the "100 cities and 100 screens" activity, ultra-high-definition commercial display applications, especially outdoor applications, are building a new road in 2021. Taking this as an example, building an ultra-high-definition industry chain involving display, transmission, content, and business model will provide a "seed team" for the true comprehensive development of the ultra-high-definition industry.
4. The heat of digital twins
Throughout the development history of the business display industry, it has always been accompanied by the progress of "information" application technology: for example, smart cities, the Internet of Things, virtual simulation and other important scenarios of business display. In 2021, these conceptual technologies have further evolved, driving a new generation of "big screen" scenarios – digital twins.
Digital twins, also known as "digital twins", are technologies that map the structure, state, behavior, function and performance of complex physical systems such as industrial products, manufacturing systems, cities and other complex physical systems to the digital virtual world – and this "digital twin" mapping in the virtual world also needs a "human-machine interface" and "interactive interface". Obviously, the latter is where Shang Xian is used.
Compared with the concepts of smart cities (factories), Internet of Things, and virtual simulation, digital twins emphasize real-time sensing, connection mapping, accurate analysis, and immersive interactive experience, not only to portray and describe historical, real-time system states, but also to be able to predict and control the state of external physical systems - that is, the fusion of reality and virtual of a complex system. It is precisely this point that the "depth, breadth, frequency, and total amount of application value" of the digital twin have undergone qualitative changes, and its demand for display systems will be more high-end.
The industry believes that digital twins are the inevitable result of the development and integration of a new generation of information technology such as 5G, Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and mixed reality, and are also one of the main ways for various sectors of social reality and natural industries to enter the metaverse era.
It is precisely because of such an important strategic position of the digital twin that the digital twin in 2021 has attracted many forces to participate in it: including large state-owned enterprises such as the China Aviation Industry Group, industry institutions such as the Intelligent Manufacturing Society consortium of the China Association for Science and Technology, professional research institutes such as the Software Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, well-known universities such as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, giants at home and abroad such as ZTE, Siemens, Amazon, Huawei, etc.
There is no lack of consensus, no lack of cohesion, and no lack of application scenarios, digital twins are in the process of continuous technology upgrading and iteration, continuous stability and high-speed landing! Industry insiders pointed out that in 2021, the digital twin industry chain will accelerate its development, and the business visualization market will further benefit from it: including, 1. more single large screens and splicing large screen centers, 2. more remote control and management, interactive needs, 3. The upgrading needs of the original information large-screen system are all due meanings.
The digital twin system is the main battlefield of the next generation of commercial display large screen center. For example, the smart cities in the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans have been upgraded to "exploring the construction of digital twin cities" in the 14th Five-Year Plan! Large-screen visualization is facing new opportunities and challenges, and 2021 is just a starting year for "digital twin" business demand.
5. Transparent display of upgrades
In the commercial LED display market in 2021, transparent LED window and curtain products continue to develop at a high speed. This product is quickly becoming the most important product in the "advertising screen" with its novel form, controllable price and cost control, and prominent application value.
From the application point of view, including automobile 4S stores, mobile phone stores, jewelry stores, brand clothing stores, sports brand stores, restaurant brand chain stores, brand convenience chain stores and various exhibition displays, stage performances, etc., a large number of application scenarios, the application of LED transparent screens has appeared. Not only the full-color screen, but also the monochrome transparent screen, the combination of "display and transparency" of thin, transparent, cool figure, brings a new realm of commercial display advertising screen.
From the perspective of technological progress, the brightness of LED transparent screens has increased, pixel density has increased, transparency has also increased, and the thickness of key products has also declined. For example, Korean manufacturer Changsung Sheet installed a film-like transparent LED display on the glass surface next to the Fuji-ta roller ladder in the Indian shopping mall, and the ultra-thin application of the film-fitting type "reached an unprecedented height" in terms of experience and scene integration.
However, as an emerging important subdivision display innovation technology in recent years, the biggest advantage of LED transparent screen is not the above, but "cost"! The reason why LED transparent screens can "explode" market progress is because when different levels of transparency and resolution control, their product costs vary greatly: both high-end expensive products and very cheap products. A large number of cheap transparent screens have quickly made LED transparent displays the mainstream technology of "transparent display".
In fact, transparent display has always had four major technical routes such as liquid crystal display, projection display, OLED display and LED large screen. Among them, the application of liquid crystal transparent display has been "not large scale is going to be eliminated"; projection transparent display has particularity, which is irreplaceable in some special display application design, but as an application such as ordinary window, the brightness bottleneck under controllable cost is a problem; OLED transparent display has just come out, and its cost force, display area, brightness have bottlenecks. Only the transparent display of the LED large screen can achieve the balance and diversification of various performances and costs.
From a few lines of transparent monochrome text display on the glass display cabinet, to a transparent giant screen display of hundreds or thousands of square meters on a large stage, this greatly different demand can be LED transparent display technology! It is precisely the "versatility" of LED transparent display in resolution, brightness and cost that has contributed to the rapid development of its market. The 2021 LED transparent display is already one of the most fashionable street windows and shop lobby "advertising screens".
In fact, in the decades of transparent display development, LED transparent display is currently the only technology for large-scale application. In particular, the continuous maturity of mini-led and micro-LED lamp bead technology has greatly improved the performance effect of LED large-screen transparent display, making it "almost exclusive" in the market development in recent years, pressing other transparent display technologies and becoming the only protagonist in the market.
6. Attack the clarion call of the conference room
In 2021, the sales volume of the entire commercial display industry will increase by about 17%. However, there is a segment of structural growth that is significantly higher than this data: this is the conference room audiovisual market.
On the one hand, the conference room market, the mainstream position of traditional business projectors in the market is accelerating the loss. The reason is very simple: under the demand for remote video, the better brightness index of the LCD tablet determines its better application experience under the camera. And the decline in the price of LCD interactive flat panels has also promoted the application of LCD to projection technology in conference rooms.
For example, in the third quarter of 2021, Chinese mainland commercial interactive tablet market shipped 19. 30,000 units, an increase of 62.5% year-on-year. 4%。 Nearly 200,000 units in a quarter, this sales volume may seem small, but it is equivalent to the size of the conference interactive tablet for almost the whole year of 2019. It can be seen how rapid the interactive tablet products are in 2020-2021. Moreover, industry analysis believes that there is still room for the price of the interactive conference board represented by 86 inches, and the popularity will be further improved in the future.
On the other hand, in 2021, small-pitch LED display products, supported by P0.X technology, are also paying more and more attention to the application of "standard conference rooms". Compared with the interactive tablet, the advantage of the LED screen in the display area is obviously "huge", and the display effect is clearer than that of the projection screen.
Industry analysis believes that the future conference shows that below 100 inches is dominated by LCD interactive flat panels, and more than 100 inches will become the market for small-pitch LED large screens. Both constitute the "sub-size structured" market that will be displayed at future conferences. And in this market, the differentiated space of projection display is almost fully compressed into "mobile portable" large-screen applications. ——That is, the conference large-screen display has changed from a projection of ten years ago to a structure with three technologies with different strengths and obvious market complementarity.
The change of the technical category of the conference room market will inevitably bring about the transformation of the "brand supply" pattern: One is that small-pitch LED large-screen enterprises will accelerate their entry into the conference display market. Even, Leyard, Zhouming and other head brands have also launched interactive LIQUID display conference products. The second is that color TV companies have seen business opportunities for interactive conference panels with the help of LCD TV technology and industrial chain advantages. Even Hisense, Skyworth and other enterprises have also launched small-pitch LED conference screens by the way. The third is that traditional IT office companies enter the conference display market, such as AOC not only has a liquid crystal interactive flat panel, but also a small-pitch LED display screen, and even LCD splicing conference display products; PC brands such as Lenovo, Internet companies such as Huawei and Xiaomi are also promoting the development of their own conference interactive equipment product lines.
Of course, these more brands intervene in the conference to show the market, which naturally forms an oversupply on the brand side. Especially combined with the fact that commercial projection companies have not given up this market, including Sony, BenQ and other companies are also adjusting the diversified technical routes of the business display sector, which further leads to the arrival of "conference display" and "vicious war".
Therefore, it can be said that 2021 is, "but all the enterprises that can be touched" are accelerating the layout of the conference display market. All the display companies charging the conference room together is the most appropriate description: in this situation, it is conducive to the accelerated rise of the conference display market, and it will also bring about a "fierce" elimination war of oversupply.
7. Transition to electronic blackboard
In 2021, the education market, as one of the most important segments in the business display, is further undergoing a "systematic" demand shift. Among them, LCD blackboard products are becoming the future standard of "education procurement".
The sharp increase in LCD smart blackboard sales began in the third quarter of 2020. In this quarter, the domestic market size of LCD blackboard exceeded 100,000 for the first time. Combined with the good results in the fourth quarter of 2020, THE LCD blackboard has gained more than 80% of the market growth in 2020. The outbreak of LCD blackboard in 2020 is more due to the decline in the average price of nearly 25% throughout the year - especially under the tide of LCD panel price increases, the price of LCD blackboard products is still declining, highlighting the trend of product popularization.
In the summer procurement season of 2021, that is, the third quarter, 168,000 units of LCD blackboard were shipped, an increase of 48% year-on-year, and the proportion of the market increased by 5.3 percentage points. ——Compared with the sum of the first three quarters of 2020 in one quarter, it has laid the general trend of continuing to popularize LCD blackboard products in 2021.
With the sharp sales of LCD blackboards and the procurement market for educational interactive equipment, the proportion of traditional educational projectors has dropped significantly. In the third quarter of 2021, projection whiteboards accounted for 6.9% of the overall interactive display market share from 2020, falling rapidly to 2.2%. Industry analysis believes that the main advantage of educational whiteboard using projection technology is that "the projection display screen is larger". However, compared with the LCD blackboard 85/86-inch splicing screen, this advantage is no longer obvious, and the overall equipment integration and picture effect are lower than that of the LCD blackboard.
Statistics show that the market share of projection interactive tablet products in 2019 and 2020 has declined by 50% for two consecutive years, and has now become a niche product in the industry. At the same time, the traditional LCD interactive tablet, the market share of educational interactive display devices also reached its highest point in 2019, and has been declining since then.
Lcd blackboard in the education interaction market, the market share in 2017 is only 4%, is expected to exceed 30% in 2021, has become a real "mainstream choice". This means that the education interaction market has officially transformed from the previous projection + interactive LIQUID crystal binary pattern to a new binary pattern of LCD blackboard + interactive LIQUID CRYSTAL. Among them, the LCD blackboard focuses on quality-oriented demand, and interactive LCD products focus on economic demand.
In the future, this positioning of the two will become one of the long-term market trends. Industry research believes that in 5 years, the proportion of interactive liquid crystals and lcd blackboards in the education market will be close to 50% respectively. Even if the price of liquid crystal large-size display products continues to decline, and the price of capacitive touch large screens also declines synchronously, the "cost difference" caused by the technical characteristics of the two will not be eliminated: this highland collocation market structure has a long-term trend.
Overall, 2020 is the starting point of the outbreak of LCD blackboard, and 2021 is the turning point for LCD blackboard to finally become mainstream. The education market shows that a new structure of demand has been initially formed.
8. Sinking market for small pitch LEDs
In 2021, the small-pitch LED display market will continue to develop at a rapid rate of more than 20%. This year not only has 0. The further entry of X products into the market, with the accelerated innovation of mini and micro technologies, and more importantly, the "sinking market for small pitch LEDs" is becoming a new center of industry increment.
The sinking market of small-pitch LEDs mainly refers to the product market that "has a certain price economy". The basis for its formation is the high maturity and cost reduction of small-pitch LED technology represented by P1.2. Especially after the use of mini LED for P1.2 lamp beads, its overall cost is more economical, which has led to the rollout of products in more "cost-bearing" markets.
These so-called lower-cost markets are roughly divided into two categories: the first is the demand market in fourth- and fifth-tier cities, counties and townships, that is, the grass-roots market. The second category is the small and medium-sized enterprise market, the storefront and window application market. The purchasing entities in these markets, with lower economic affordability, prefer products with lower prices. ——The development of the sinking market has made small-pitch LEDs change from "products that focus on high-end displays, such as visual large screens, high-end conferences, and high-end advertising applications, to products that can meet the economic needs of the middle and low ends."
From the perspective of manufacturer action, in 2021, brand companies in important markets have made great efforts to launch special products that focus on the channel market in the channel client. Some companies have also increased the construction of the "second brand", for example, in 2021, the representative brand of the domestic high-end small-pitch LED display, Leyard, expanded the sinking market through the "Jin Lixiang" brand, and laid out more channel businesses to strive to achieve a sustained leading market share in the "sinking era".
At the same time, in 2021, in the context of the sinking market of small-pitch LED displays, more "second-line" LED display companies have strengthened the construction of small-pitch LED product lines: more mature technology, basic technology and process diffusion, lower costs and other factors, so that more LED companies realize that the traditional "medium-pitch" LED display products, including medium-size outdoor advertising, indoor display and other fields of competitiveness is declining - customers need products with higher definition effects. Both necessarily need small-pitch LED display technology to meet.
That is, the sinking market of small-pitch LEDs is also a parallel market with "high-end display demand", which is a "positive incentive" market for improving the quality of display content and improving the quality of display equipment in the sinking market. This has led to the sinking market of small-pitch LEDs, which has further expanded the brand scale of supply of small-pitch LED screens.
For the sinking market, there is another consensus in the small-pitch LED industry in 2021: that is, the future industry increment is mainly composed of the newly developed high-end scenarios of 0.X level products, and the sinking demand of traditional spacing level products dominated by 1.X to 2.X. And 0. The new market demand for X still needs long-term polishing. Under the background that the high-end market of traditional spacing products has been saturated, the core of industry competition and the foundation of enterprise growth will inevitably rely heavily on the sinking market. This has led to 2021 not only the first year of the sinking market, but also the adjustment of the industry's competition mode and marketing structure.
9. The trend of COG technology
A new genre of small pitch LED display technology is coming in 2021. That is COG technology, that is, the use of glass substrate TFT instead of PCB circuit board technology. The technology has more experience and process advantages:
For example, TFT substrates are easier to prepare high-density drive circuit structures that meet the requirements of 0. X-class small pitch LED display, the need for micro technology. The glass surface of the TFT substrate is smoother and the adaptability to the mass transfer process is also better. At the same time, the COG technology using the TFT substrate still has the overall packaging advantages of THE COB technology. More importantly, the TFT drive is a natural AM drive structure, which has advantages in strobe, brightness and grayscale control compared to the passive drive technology of most PCBs.
It can be said that COG technology is a small-pitch LED display in the micro era, 0.X level pitch display, a good technical choice and direction. Product exploration of this technology at home and abroad will accelerate in 2021. In particular, it has attracted the attention of a large number of LCD panel companies, such as Samsung, LG, Innolux, AUO, BOE, Huaxing Optoelectronics, Huike, Shentianma...
At the TCL Huaxing DTC 2021 Global Display Ecology Conference held on November 16, 2021, the LED display products based on the glass substrate displayed by Huaxing Optoelectronics include: 125-inch transparent MiniLED direct display, 75-inch P0.6 oxide AM direct display Mini LED TV, 1.37" AM Micro LED watch screen with integrated In-cell touch technology, and 7.1-inch flexible Micro LED screen And 6.24-inch high-brightness Micro LED screen and many other differentiated products.
According to South Korean media reports, Samsung Display (SDC) recently approached AUO Optoelectronics (AUO) to develop a 12.7-inch Micro LED LTPS TFT backplane for Samsung Micro LED TVs. Samsung plans to launch 89-inch, 101-inch and 114-inch LTPS-based Micro LED TVs in 2022. Of course, the industry expects that Samsung's choice may increase the cost of its products. However, for the color TV demand to meet the 4K resolution, the LED above and below 100 inches directly displays a large screen, and the cost of the high-precision PCB board is not estimated by ready-made cases.
Of course, the enthusiasm of traditional small-pitch LED companies for COG technology is not much at all, and the head brand has been invested in the corresponding technology research and development. However, unlike the high profile of panel companies, traditional small-pitch LED companies have at least two huge questions about COG: 1. COG technology is to be applied in which products and scenarios, after all, from the P1.0 pitch product point of view, COG is inferior in cost, and P0.5 level or below products, the current industry demand is very small; 2. After the adoption of COG technology, the glass substrate end will inevitably be restricted by panel companies - the future COG LED display product market "who will dominate" is a problem.
That is, the maturity of COG products, technical problems need to be solved, demand scenario problems need to be solved, and the industrial chain and supply structure will also face the challenge of reconstruction. It can be said that in the history of LED displays, there has never been such a new technology with "wide industry influence". This is also the reason for the high-profile momentum of COG technology in 2021 and the lack of low-key landing.
10. The dispute between price increases and price reductions
In the 2021 commercial display market, the more interesting change is the "price trend" of "the opposite": that is, the trend of the terminal product is to reduce the price, while the trend of the upstream market is to increase the price.
For example, in 2021, small-pitch LED display products will vigorously explore the sinking market, and the average price of equal-pitch products will obviously decline. However, in the upstream market, especially in the ICs and other products that have suffered from a shortage crisis, there have been price increases, and even irrational speculation prices. ——For a period of time, the price of some IC products increased by 10 times.
At the same time, since 2021, a number of LED chip companies have raised prices, some companies have raised prices for the second time, and even some companies have raised prices for the third time, some small-size chips have been in shortage, and the average price of individual shortage products has increased by about 30%. It can be said that while dealing with the sinking market, it is necessary to deal with the upstream price increase, which has become a "big pain point" for the small-pitch industry in 2021.
Compared with the small-pitch LED display, the liquid crystal display is slightly better. The climax of the LCD panel price increase from May 2020 to June 2021 finally turned into an "avalanche" price reduction in the second half of 2021. However, for the commercial display, the main demand is a large size LCD panel. For example, the 85/86 inches of interactive tablets - this part of the product is relatively more stable than other small and medium-sized sizes.
The price of large-size LCD is more stable, and the impact of entering the price reduction range in the second half of 2021, the "overall price of LCD products" in 2021, the market growth under lower prices is inevitable.
In fact, in 2021, including 75/85/86/98-inch large-size liquid crystal display equipment, the sales price has hit a record low; the average price of 32/43-inch liquid crystal display equipment has also begun to fall to a historical low at the end of the year. However, compared with the price of LCD panels, the price trend of large-sized capacitive touch products is more stable, and the overall fluctuation of the panel large industry cycle is mainly based on the downward trend. This has also driven the commercial display market, and the number of screen applications with capacitive touch technology has increased significantly.
The law of the cost side is affected by the disorder of the global bulk material and industrial supply chain, and the performance in 2021 can be called 'confusing'. "Industry analysis pointed out that from the perspective of long-term general trend, the decline in the price and cost of commercial display large screens is an inevitable trend, and it is also the inherent demand for further application popularization." However, from the short-term trend point of view, price repetition will still occur from time to time. At the same time, whether the price changes in the upper and middle reaches are transmitted to the end product is also uncertain.
Postscript: Overall, the domestic commercial display market in 2021 has been "back on track" from the impact of the epidemic. The industry is on a benign development track with the expansion of market demand and the new demand brought by technological innovation. The number of industry participants also continued to increase during the year. The increase in the brand side exceeds the growth of the market scale, bringing more competitive pressure, and also promoting the "service, price" and other aspects of the commercial display market to be more close to the people. This will also mean that the future business display market will continue to accelerate its growth under fierce competition.