Japan and South Korea gradually withdraw from the LCD stage, Sharp has another way to forcibly turn over

Affected by the sudden epidemic, the number of global LCD TV panel shipments declined sharply in Q1 2020. Among them, mainland China manufacturers accounted for more than half, and Japanese and South Korean manufacturers are gradually withdrawing from the LCD TV panel stage.

Faced with a severely declining market environment and double squeezed out by competition from mainland Chinese manufacturers, Sharp, who is also a Japanese manufacturer, has taken a different approach, forcibly turning over in this troubled year, trying to turn losses into wins.

According to the latest survey report of the Chinese Internet Data Information Network, the number of global LCD TV panel shipments in the first quarter of 2020 was 63.03 million, a significant decrease of 10.6% year-on-year; the shipment area was 37.438 million square meters, a slight decrease of 3.2% year-on-year. Among them, mainland Chinese manufacturers accounted for more than half of shipments in the first quarter, reaching 55%.

At present, looking at the global LCD panel market, it can be said that the major global share has been controlled by Chinese manufacturers (including BOE, Huaxing Optoelectronics (TCL Holdings), etc.), and China is now the absolute overlord of LCD. Moreover, as China gradually occupied the leading position in the field of LCD panels, Korean Japanese manufacturers gradually withdrew from the market.

According to public information, in the first quarter of 2020, mainland Chinese manufacturers' LCD shipments and shipment area topped the field.

In an effort to overcome the influence of the supply chain and resumption of work, BOE continued to rank first in the world in the first quarter, with 11.3 million pieces shipped and a shipment area of 7.1 million square meters; CSOT (TCL Huaxing) also basically maintained a high crop in the first quarter Momentum rate, its shipment volume and shipment area were 10.8 million pieces and 6.63 million square meters respectively, and the global ranking rose from fourth to second.

Looking at the Japanese and South Korean departments, which are also affected by the epidemic, they are ready to gradually withdraw from the market. It is reported that the shipments of Korean manufacturers fell more than 30% year-on-year, and the global share fell to 21%. In addition, after the second quarter, South Korea's LCD production capacity is further closed, and its share is expected to decline further.

With the imminent market share of Chinese panel manufacturers, Japanese manufacturers are also not easy. You should know that Japan used to be the birthplace of liquid crystal and the birthplace of liquid crystal commercialization. However, the current Panasonic has announced that it will formally withdraw from the LCD panel business, and its production will be terminated in 2021. The mid-sized panel manufacturer JDI is also struggling to support, and its future is uncertain due to funding reasons.

Sharp, who is also a giant in Japan's domestic LCD panel manufacturer, naturally cannot escape the fate of a sharp decline. After Sharp transferred to Hon Hai, Sharp still maintained a high utilization rate in the first quarter under the epidemic situation, but the shipment was full of fatigue and the inventory continued to be high.

In order to alleviate the impact of the epidemic on mainstream products, Sharp also began to learn from many domestic enterprises and moved to mask manufacturing. It is reported that at the end of March 2020, Sharp plans to start producing masks at its factory in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It initially produced 150,000 masks per day and gradually increased to 500,000 masks per day.

According to MoneyDJ, Sharp, invested by Hon Hai Group, has targeted ordinary Japanese people to sell self-produced masks through its official website since April. Due to the surge in demand, the website was once paralyzed, forcing Sharp to adjust online sales to lottery sales.

In the history of more than 100 years, Sharp has provided customers with LCD TV products, health appliances (including refrigerators, washing machines, air purifiers, etc.), office equipment (digital multi-function machines, fax machines, commercial purifiers, etc.) ), Commercial solutions (professional LCD monitors, commercial LCD TVs, projectors, etc.) and a wide variety of products such as electronic components.

It is actually quite embarrassing to put on masks this time and become the best-selling product since Sharp was founded. Sharp tweeted on his official Twitter that as a home appliance manufacturer, Sharp, in the 107-year history, felt that masks had become the best-selling product in history, and the mood was complicated.

Whether it is "true complexity" or "false complexity", it is undeniable that Sharp's move will bring huge profits to the enterprise.

Everyone knows that in order to ensure high quality, LCD screens are usually produced in "sterile" factories, so that particles cannot be stirred into the production process, and therefore, such factories are very suitable for the production of masks.

From the production of large LCD panels and assembled TVs in the past to the production of masks today, Sharp can be said to have used the liquid crystal production line to the extreme.

Objectively speaking, the current lack of mask resources, and overseas epidemics such as Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States are extremely serious and continue to spread. Sharp's urgent transformation of television factories to produce masks at this time is undoubtedly not a `` right time '' move.

Of course, Sharp has not completely abandoned the panel industry. It is reported that Sharp G10 will significantly reduce the utilization rate in the second quarter to adjust the inventory level, and the Guangzhou 10.5 generation line will accelerate the introduction of brand customers. It is expected that mass production will be achieved for brand customers in the second quarter.

From the LCD panel production line to the mask manufacturing line, Sharp, a century-old shop, was a lucrative manufacturer of high-end TVs, and now it is also a mask manufacturer that turns a profit. It can be seen from this that for the enterprise, there is no immutable glory, and only constant changes in real time can complete the fearless self-help when it is in danger.