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Since the second half of last year, panel prices have continued to rise, one of the main reasons is that the display driver chip is out of stock. Currently, the market expects that the panel price will continue until the end of the second quarter, which also means that the display driver chip may also be out of stock until the middle of the year, and the display driver chip prices may usher in a second wave of rise.
Due to the continued upward trend of wafer foundry and packaging and testing factory fees, since the fourth quarter of last year, the display driver chip prices have gradually increased. , the increase is mostly between 15% and 20%. The market continues to care that whether 8-inch or 12-inch OEM factories may increase prices in the second half of the year. Industry insiders revealed that they are coordinating production capacity with OEM factories almost every week, and the price is also reflected as much as possible to help customers solve the problem of tight production capacity.
Most operators believe that the tight production capacity may continue for a period of time, and can only continue to coordinate with different suppliers, hoping to diversify sources and increase production capacity, which is subject to 8 Inch production capacity is not easy to expand, and market demand continues to be strong, so it is important to pay attention to whether there will be a second wave of price increases in the second half of the year.
In terms of demand, the demand for large-size and small-sized display driver chips will be better this year than last year. Large-size in the home economy drives the increase in application demand for IT products and other applications, and small-sized small-sized mobile phones are simultaneously booming under the trend of 5G mobile phones this year.
As for production capacity, Taiwanese driver chip manufacturers include Lianyong, Duntai, Tianyu, SiChuang, Qijing Optoelectronics, etc., each with different competitive advantages and prospects. Lianyong belongs to Lianyong Group and Tianyu have Sharp 8 of Hon Hai Group Inch wafer foundry support has made its operational pace more stable than other peers.
Duntai was the first to accept the example of TSMC cutting production capacity. Duntai used to invest in UMC in the past, but under the capacity exclusion, it caused a headwind in 2018. After that, it began to invest in TSMC, and its operating performance increased significantly in the past two years.
However, under the exclusion of automotive chip production, a small part of Duntai's production energy in the second half of this year was reduced by TSMC. The market believes that since TSMC attaches great importance to maintaining relationships with customers, the impact should be limited, and Duntai's annual production energy is still better than last year's level.
As for SiC and Qijing Optoelectronics, it maintains a close relationship with its partners and continues to coordinate related production capacity to meet future customer needs.
Financial data shows that Lianyong's January revenue was 81.22 NT$100 million, a record high in a single month, and the company also announced its own profit after tax, with a net profit of NT$1.617 billion, a significant increase of NT$2.66 per share. The market is optimistic that Lianyong's revenue is expected to compete for a new high this year, and its profit performance is strong to earn three equity capitals.
Tianyu's revenue in January also hit a new high, reaching NT$1.392 billion, and its after-tax net profit reached NT$242 million, and its earnings per share reached NT$1.33 billion. The legal person also believes that in addition to displaying the momentum of driver chips throughout the year, new products such as TDDI and OLED driver chips are also expected to contribute to amplify their contributions, revenue is expected to hit a high, and profits are even more challenging to a share capital.
It can be observed that Lianyong and Tianyu, with the support of their parent company, have achieved production capacity, which has achieved high revenue in January, while SiC and Duntai's revenue in January simultaneously decreased slightly, which is somewhat affected by the tight production capacity, but the annual growth rate is both double digits.
Overall, driver chips are in short supply in the first half of this year, and the increase in product prices has led to the operating performance of driver chip design companies in the first half of the year, which is expected to maintain the high-end level of the past peak season scale, but in the second half of the year, we must continue to observe whether there is excessive overbooking and changes in production capacity.
