BOE's 8K ultra-high-definition display Photo: CFP

Leading manufacturers in large-sized LCD market share in the second quarter of 2015

Leading semiconductor display panel producer BOE Technology on Wednesday broke ground for a 10.5-generation thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui Province, the first of its kind in the world.

The plant will support China's ambition to lead the world's display panel industry.

Production will start in the second quarter of 2018, a few months earlier than previously announced, with a total investment of 40 billion yuan ($6.25 billion).

"The new plant is the third BOE facility in Hefei, after the 6.5-generation plant and 8.5-generation plant, and it [will be] the highest-generation LCD plant in the world," BOE President Chen Yanshun said at the launch ceremony in Hefei on Wednesday.

The generation number of an LCD panel production line is determined by the size of the glass substrate that it handles. A larger number means a larger size of panels that the substrate can be economically cut into.

Japan-based Sharp Corp is now the only panel producer in the world with a 10-generation factory, which is able to fabricate LCDs as large as 65 inches.

The BOE plant has a designed capacity to churn out 90,000 units per month. The plant will mainly produce ultra-high-definition LCD panels measuring 65 inches or wider.

The company expects the new plant will make it one of the top three display panel producers in the world, according to a press release on Wednesday.

Li Yaqin, director of research at industry portal sigmaintell.com, said the plant will fast-track super-large TVs with ultra-high-definition properties to consumers' living rooms.

"BOE's investment means downstream producers will have more suppliers of 65-inch or larger LCD screens, which in turn means more products, both in quantity and variety, will hit the consumer market," Li told the Global Times Wednesday.

According to sigmaintell.com, BOE's LCD shipments will surpass 70 million units by 2020, double this year's level, accounting for one-quarter of global shipments.

LG Display, Samsung Display and Innolux Display held the global top three spots in terms of large LCD shipments in the second quarter of 2015, US-based technology consultancy International Data Corp said in August. BOE ranked fifth.

Zhang Rihui, an analyst with Wuhan-based industry portal cnstra.com, told the Global Times Wednesday that Anhui Province has invested heavily in the LCD sector, and upstream-downstream industry clusters have formed in and around several major cities in the province.

BOE posted third-quarter operating revenue of 13.45 billion yuan, up 46.6 percent year-on-year, and net profit of 41.22 million yuan, down 94.9 percent year-on-year, the company said on October 23. BOE said the huge decline in net profit reflected foreign-exchange losses.

Some industry observers have expressed concern over the strength of demand for large LCDs.

But Li said as there will be only two production lines worldwide in three years, the current situation suggests the sector won't face a supply glut.

"It's hard to say what would happen if more companies decided to bet on 65-inch or above LCD," Li noted.