[Introduction] In the past two years, foreign LCD panel factories have gradually reduced their production lines, and mainland China has continued to increase their yards. The cumulative planned investment scale has continuously exceeded new heights. With the gradual release of the capacity of these new production lines, China has become the world's largest display panel manufacturer.

In the past two years, foreign LCD panel factories have gradually reduced their production lines, and mainland China has been increasing their yards. The cumulative planned investment scale has continuously exceeded new highs. With the gradual release of the capacity of these new production lines, China has become the world's largest display panel manufacturer.

How does liquid crystal material break the monopoly of foreign companies?

In the manufacture of LCD display panels, only the cost of materials is as high as 70%. According to statistics, after 2016, the total value of China's TFT-LCD industry in the demand for liquid crystal materials, substrate glass (including glass for color film), polarizers, color filters, optical films, etc. will be close to 100 billion. yuan.

What is worrying is that the liquid crystal material, which is one of the three basic materials of the display panel, is in the hands of foreign giants. Although the localization rate has increased in recent years, it is still unable to break the monopoly of foreign capital. Breaking through the patent monopoly of liquid crystal materials and accelerating the localization process has become an urgent problem to be solved in the development of China's display panel industry.

The market is still controlled by foreign capital

Since the performance and stability of liquid crystal materials will greatly affect the display performance and product quality of the panel, the material replacement will cause fluctuations in performance and yield. LCD panel companies often have strict requirements for liquid crystal materials companies. After experiencing the development of many liquid crystal display technologies such as DSM-LCD, TN-LCD, STN-LCD, etc., TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display Technology) has become the mainstream technology of liquid crystal display, and is used to manufacture smart phones and TVs. The main components of the panel are high-end TFT liquid crystal materials, and the gross profit margin of the products is over 70%.

The market demand for liquid crystal materials is accelerating with the expansion of panel shipments. According to the survey data released by Zhiyan Consulting, the global demand for TFT liquid crystal materials in 2016 is around 700 tons, while the demand for TFT liquid crystal materials in China is 250 tons. As more production capacity continues to be built, it is expected that by 2020, the demand for TFT liquid crystal materials in China will exceed 470 tons.

The core technology and patents of high-end mixed crystal materials have long been monopolized by foreign companies such as Germany and Japan. Yuan Tong, executive deputy secretary-general of China Electronic Materials Industry Association, told the China Electronics News that the global TFT LCD market is basically monopolized by Germany's MERCK and Japan's CHISSO and DIC, accounting for more than 90% of the global market share. Among them, MERK is in an absolute leading position in the high-end TFT LCD material market in China.

Driven by local downstream manufacturers, Korean and Chinese Taiwanese companies are also increasing their investment in liquid crystal materials, striving to break through the monopoly of German and Japanese companies. Liquid crystal materials manufacturers such as Korea Dongjin currently have certain liquid crystal material production capacity. The only companies in China that have the ability to mix crystals are Chengzhi, Hecheng, and 800 million.

Song Xiaolong, director of Jiangsu Hecheng Display Technology Co., Ltd. told reporters: "At present, the localization rate of hybrid LCD is only 16%, and foreign LCDs still occupy a monopoly position. Although China's mixed crystal product structure is gradually transforming, the actual situation is low. The localization rate of end products has increased relatively, and there are still serious monopolies in the middle and high-end products."

At the same time, foreign-funded enterprises are still vigorously strengthening the research and development of high-performance liquid crystal technology, in order to continue to expand the technological advantages and ensure its absolute market share. Taking the Merck Group as an example, it is developing high-performance liquid crystal technologies such as PS-VA (Polymer Stabilized Vertical Alignment) and UB-FFS (Ultra-Brightness Fringe Field Switching). Among them, the ultra-bright edge field switch (UB-FFS) technology, which is applied to the latest generation of smart phones and has remarkable energy-saving effects, achieved double-digit growth in 2016, and sales in the fourth quarter also set a record.

Development of autonomous mixed crystal materials