DRAM Spot Market:

Unlike the contract market, the spot market still shows daily drops mainly due to the influx of used chips that were stripped from decommissioned server DRAM modules. Since the demand situation has yet to turn around, spot prices on the whole continue to slide. There are no indications of a rebound in the near future. Regarding the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s), their average spot price fell by 0.67% from US$1.492 last week to US$1.482 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market:

The NAND Flash spot market has yet to recover from its sluggishness since the end of June, and suppliers are still lingering under heavy sales pressure with no aggressive purchases due to the absence of peak season demand from Europe and America that was previously anticipated. These aforementioned stocking dynamics have led to an increase of 0.14% in 512Gb TLC wafer spots this week, arriving at US$1.404.

As the pandemic has eased, the global automotive market is picking up momentum, and it is estimated that the global shipments of automotive panels will exceed 200 million units in 2023. With the continuous demand for size enlargement and specification improvement in automotive panels, the adoption of TDDI architecture is becoming more prevalent, and it is expected that TDDI will gradually become the mainstream for automotive panels.

On the other hand, AMOLED panels have started to have opportunities for adoption in emerging electric vehicles and some high-end car models. However, their adoption has been slow due to potential issues with reliability, lifespan, and brightness. Currently, the overall penetration rate for AMOLED panels in the automotive sector is estimated to reach 6% by 2026.

Can Panel Manufacturers Replace Traditional Tier 1 Players and Directly Serve Automakers?

As traditional internal combustion engine vehicles transition to electric vehicles and the level of in-car electronics continues to rise, coupled with the development of autonomous driving technologies, the demand for automotive displays is constantly expanding. The integration of digital display panels with touch functionality is gradually becoming mainstream, and panel sizes are increasing, moving towards more integrated designs. Specifications such as resolution, wide viewing angles, and high refresh rates, as well as unique designs, are becoming focal points. Currently, display panel specifications are moving towards LTPS LCD panels, which offer larger sizes, superior display performance, and better energy efficiency.

Looking at the market conditions, after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the demand for automotive panels declined, but it gradually recovered in 2021 and 2022. However, there is still an oversupply situation, and it is estimated that there will be a slight growth of 5.1% to reach 205 million units in 2023. In terms of shipment scale, China’s panel shipments maintain the best position with a share of over 40%, while Japanese panel manufacturers have been squeezed by Chinese counterparts, reducing their share to about 20%. Taiwan’s panel manufacturers account for approximately 21%, and Korean panel manufacturers represent 8%.

The traditional shipment model involves Tier 1 players contracting with car manufacturers for related validation, assembly, and supply chain management roles, and then subcontracting Tier 2 panel suppliers. With the transformation of the automotive industry and the semiconductor component shortages in the past few years, as well as the increased requirements for interior design in vehicles, car manufacturers are starting to seek better control over the supply chain. As a result, panel manufacturers may replace Tier 1 players and directly supply to automakers, and Tier 1 suppliers will face competition from panel manufacturers.

The Automotive TDDI Architecture Has Cost Advantages

In the early days, LCD automotive panels mainly used external touch solutions, with car-use DDI and independent touch ICs on the IC architecture. However, as panel sizes increased, the number of ICs used also increased, leading to higher costs. Therefore, the TDDI architecture became a new development direction.

TDDI is commonly used for panels up to 30 inches in size. A single TDDI solution can be used for 20-inch panels, while for 20-30 inch panels, a TDDI-cascade solution with approximately 2-3 TDDI-cascade architectures is often used. Panels larger than 30 inches use the LTDI (Local TDDI) structure.

New Display Technology Awaits Automotive Certification; Significant Growth Expected after 2025

AMOLED is mostly used in high-end car models or stylish new electric vehicles, but its rapid development is hindered by limitations in brightness, panel lifespan, and reliability. In comparison, LCDs with MiniLED BLU architecture offer similar display performance to AMOLED but at a more affordable price and with better safety, and they are expected to compete with AMOLED in the market.

For more information on this report or market data from TrendForce’s Department of Display Research, please click here, or email Ms. Grace Li from the Sales Department at graceli@trendforce.com

As the mass production of the new iPhone draws near, TrendForce, in April this year, raised concerns in the smartphone industry about several design changes made to the 2023 iPhone models almost half a year ahead of production. The industry is closely monitoring whether related components can keep up with the production schedule to ensure smooth execution of subsequent assembly plans. Recently, TrendForce provided updates on the production progress and details of these components.

According to TrendForce’s investigation, two critical components in the iPhone supply chain are causing worries about potential supply issues – the CIS (CMOS Image Sensor) and the titanium alloy frame. Currently, there are still bottlenecks in the production of these components that need to be overcome.

Regarding the CIS, the bottleneck arises from Sony’s supply of the new 48MP CIS, which is expected to be used in iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. This CIS adopts a new stacked design, separating the CIS photodiodes and peripheral transistors into three layers instead of the previous double-layer structure. This poses a significant challenge to yield rates, and despite Sony’s efforts to increase production capacity to cope with the yield ramp-up difficulties, the supply situation does not meet anticipated levels, affecting the initial production schedule of the entire device.

As for the titanium frame, due to the elimination of the pressure-sensitive button structure and the slight adjustment in the opening for the mute switch, the suppliers need to re-allocate, set up, and verify the basic operating time of the production lines.

Additionally, the processing procedures for titanium are more complicated compared to stainless steel, which leads to longer production lead times. TrendForce confirmed recently that the titanium frame for the new iPhone is currently one of the components with lower yield rates and supply stability. Therefore, suppliers have expanded production capacity by 20-30% and are working diligently to ensure that even if the initial supply is tight during the early stages of production, they can respond accordingly, ensuring that the launch and supply of the entire device will not be affected.

Given the supply constraints of these two components mentioned above, TrendForce believes that Apple may increase the production proportion of the two Pro models in 3Q23 to fill the gap caused by the initial iPhone 15’s production capacity shortage. This adjustment, in an optimistic scenario, will only involve shifting production proportions between different models in two quarters, with no impact on the annual shipment performance. TrendForce assesses that this possibility is more likely under the current circumstances.

However, if the CIS yield bottleneck is difficult to overcome, it could lead to a substantial reduction in the shipment volume of the 2023 iPhone models. TrendForce will continue to monitor the situation closely.

TSMC held its Q2 earnings conference today (20th). TrendForce utilized AI tools to transcribe and made slight edits, presenting the full text of TSMC’s operational status report delivered by Chairman Mark Liu, CEO C.C. Wei, and CFO Wendell Huang. …

In Q3, TV panel purchasing momentum is strong, with an estimated 7~8% growth by QoQ. Manufacturers are confident in raising prices due to increased demand, aiming to turn TV panel production profitable. As a result, TV panel prices are expected to continue rising, with increases of 2~8 USD for different sizes.

Monitor panel prices continue to rise in July, with consumer models showing higher demand than commercial ones. Brands focused on consumer models or smaller secondary brands are more likely to experience moderate price increases. Anticipated price adjustments for July: Open Cell products are up by around 0.2 ~0.5 USD, the 21.5-inch panel is up by 0.2 USD, the 23.8-inch panel is up by 0.2 USD, and 27-inch panel price remains unchanged.

In Q3, panel manufacturers consider raising prices for NB panels. Q2 saw a 30% shipment growth due to increased demand from brand customers, but Q3 demand is expected to be cautious, leading to a 3% shipment increase. Lower-end TN models have higher demand than IPS ones. Anticipated July prices: 14-inch and 15.6-inch TN models may see a slight 0.1 USD increase, while IPS models remain unchanged.