Display Fab Utilization Continuing Strong in 2H 2020

Ann Arbor, MI USA -

After a slowdown in Q2 2020 that was less severe than expected, display industry fab utilization recovered in Q3 and is continuing at high levels in Q4, according to the latest release of DSCC’s Quarterly All Display Fab Utilization Report, issued this week. In Q3 2020, total TFT input for all display makers was up 9% Q/Q and Y/Y at 76.4 million square meters, and in the current Q4 2020 we expect total TFT input to be down less than 1% Q/Q up 10% Y/Y at 76.1 million square meters.

The report details capacity, TFT input, and utilization for every flat panel display fab in the industry, more than 100 fabs in all, and includes pivot tables to allow segmentation by supplier, country, TFT fab generation, backplane, frontplane or substrate type. The report provides historical utilization back to Q1 2018 and a forecast by month for 2020.

The COVID-19 induced slowdown started in April, affecting all regions except Taiwan with particularly sharp slowdowns in Japan and Korea, as shown in the first chart here. Utilizations increased in all regions in Q3, and worldwide utilization increased from 82% in Q2 to 87% in Q3. We expect a modest slowdown in utilization in Q4 in China and Taiwan, and a more substantial slowdown in Korea as SDC looks to shut down its LCD lines. The Korea slowdown may be averted, however, as in its Q3 earnings call Samsung indicated that it was studying the possibility of extending LCD panel supply short-term by using the capacity of the lines that are not being converted to QD display.

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