LED TV makers push panel prices down amidst weak Euro, slow orders

TV makers have experienced a pair of setbacks in European markets recently. First, the sharp drop in the price of Euro has hurt several large Korean and Japanese TV makers who made their deals in fixed price contracts with retailers. Second, overall demand in the EU, along with Brazil and other emerging economies, has pushed prices downward as well.

The impact of these two factors as well as others have helped slash prices of LCD TVs over the past few months, according to DisplaySearch. This has been particularly evident with 32in TVs, as well as 40, 48, 50 and 55in panel TVs. The company noted that China brands, such as TCL, Hisense, Skyworth and others, are expected to drop orders for 32in panels by 20 to 25 percent from Q1 to Q2 2015. These are expected to push prices down for said panels over the next few months.

On the other hand, despite weakness in the EU, TV panel shipments reached a monthly record of 23.3 million units in March. 4K panel shipments accounted for 10.6 percent of that number, hitting new record. Along with the fact that smartphones have eaten up much of the LED driver IC capacity over the past year, panel makers may be able to resist the push for lower prices until demand picks up again in Europe and emerging markets.

Nevertheless, the 32in HD market may be a good place for unbranded or white box TVs to try to gain some traction if big Chinese brands follow through with their decline in purchases and if major brands such as Samsung and LG continue to focus more on larger UHD screens.

See a comparison table of selected LED TV suppliers on GlobalSources.com