三星弃LCD保OLED，是一步好棋

三星公司(Samsung)日前宣布分割旗下 LCD 事业群，进一步重组显示器业务。三星预计将于今年四月另行成立新的三星显示器公司(Samsung Display Co.)，除了强化 LCD 业务以外，也将扩展至 OLED 领域。不过，三星公司仍将持续掌控新公司的所有股份。 在这次组织重整的过程中，三星还打算在有机发光二极管(OLED)显示器技术方面投入更多资源。 OLED 较 LCD 更具优势：OLED可自发光、更轻且薄、能够像塑料一样可挠曲且功耗更低。对于大多数应用而言，OLED简直就是完美的显示技术。 然而， OLED 显示器成本仍然相当昂贵。而且， OLED也缺乏像 LCD 一样的制造基础设施，目前只有几家材料供货商。IHS iSuppli公司表示，在 OLED 能够达到一定的制造产量以及发展出更多的市场竞争以前， OLED 显示器应用仍将十分稀少且昂贵： “由于制造良率的问题，加上供货商较少使材料成本高涨，预计在未来几年内， AMOLED 电视的价格仍将远高于LCD TV。2012年，55吋 AMOLED TV售价约为8,000美元，相当于同尺寸LCD TV平均价格3,700美元的两倍。虽然AMOLED TV能够为用户带来比LCD TV更优质的视觉体验，但除非AMOLED价格能够降低到约比LCD TV高20%左右的范围，否则消费者不太可能会大量的购买。” 因此，三星在这方面可说是跨出了正确的一步。 近几年来，LCD面板市场持续面临价格大幅下滑以及产能过剩的窘境。尽管去年12月起起价格已趋于稳定，但IHS iSuppli的报告指出LCD面板价格在短时间内难以提升： “面板价格自去年12月起止跌回稳主要的原因在于供货商被迫减产以控制供应与遏制财务损失后，整个面板供应链库存去化，以及厂房利用率调整所致。”IHS iSuppli公司LCD资深总监Sweta Dash表示，“美国与中国的销售回升，有助于进一步带动市场需求。尽管如此，受到全球经济持续不明朗的影响，供货商想要提高面板价格的机会并不高。” 由于LCD的市场价格越来越具有竞争力，一些主要的显示器制造商，如东芝(Toshiba Corp.)和夏普电子(Sharp Electronics)等公司等均将生产业务外包给ODM与EMS，以节省成本。另一个趋势是面板的制造越来越接近终端需求所在之处。因此，面板厂不再 积极投资于建造更多的LCD新厂，而是外包给面板OEM在具有需求之处进行建造。 三星将持续紧握显示器业务，这是三星另一项明智之举。由于三星本身在产品销售市场就有大量的需求，因而几乎将使用掉大部份自家所生产的面板。 IHS iSuppli公司期望， AMOLED 显示器供货商、设备制造商、材料制造商以及TV制造商能够望携手合作，共同开发出更有效率且具成本效益的方法，从而制造出大尺寸的 AMOLED 面板。如此一来，面板价格才会开始下滑。 “55吋 AMOLED 面板早期可能先在现有的八代非晶硅(a-Si) LCD厂生产，该产线可转做AMOLED所需的氧化硅背板。未来，LG Display (LGD)和三星计划未来将在八代线大规模量产AMOLED，期望在制程术更成熟后，进一步降低大尺寸AMOLED面板的成本。” 到最后，三星很可能成为自家的最大客户。 编译：Susan Hong 本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载 参考英文原文：Is Samsung LCD Spinoff the Right Move?，by Barbara Jorgensen

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{pagination} Is Samsung LCD Spinoff the Right Move? Barbara Jorgensen, EBN Community Editor Samsung Corp. , the world's biggest maker of the LCD panels used in laptops, notebooks, TVs, and phones, is spinning off its LCD business. Samsung will continue to control all the shares of the new Samsung Display Co., which is scheduled to launch in early April. As part of this restructuring, Samsung intends to devote more resources toward organic-light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. OLEDs have a number of advantages over LCDs: they have their own light source; they are thin; they can be sprayed onto flexible substrates such as plastic; and they consume a lot less power. For most applications, OLED is simply the perfect display technology. OLED displays continue to be prohibitively expensive, however. Unlike LCDs there is no OLED manufacturing infrastructure in place. There are very few materials suppliers. Until OLED reaches volume manufacturing levels and more competition develops, the displays will be rare and costly. IHS iSuppli says: AMOLED TV prices will remain dramatically higher than those of liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs during the next few years because of manufacturing yield issues, combined with inflated material costs due to the small pool of suppliers. A 55-inch AMOLED TV will be priced at $8,000 in 2012, more than twice the $3,700 average expense for an equivalent LCD TV. And although AMOLEDs deliver a dramatically superior viewing experience compared to LCDs, consumers are unlikely to buy large quantities of AMOLEDs until their prices fall to within a 20 percent premium of comparable LCD TVs. Samsung is making the right move. The LCD panel market has been struggling with steep price declines and overcapacity on and off for a number of years. Although prices stabilized in December, IHS iSuppli reports that they are unlikely to increase any time soon: "The firming in panel prices in December can be attributed to lean inventories throughout the supply chain and to lower factory utilization rates, after suppliers were forced to cut production in order to control supply and stem financial losses," said Sweta Dash, senior director for LCDs at IHS. "Sales also picked up in the United States and China, helping to further boost the market. Despite this, there will be little opportunity for suppliers to increase pricing even after the market has evened out, due to continuing uncertainties in the global economy." As massive as Samsung's LCD business is, LCD is increasingly price-competitive. Other major display manufacturers, such as Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo: 6502) and Sharp Electronics Corp. , have been outsourcing some of their production to ODMs and EMS companies to save costs. There has also been a move toward manufacturing the panels closer to where end-demand is. Rather than invest in more LCD factories, outsourcing enables panel OEMs to build where demand exists. Samsung is also holding onto the display business, which is another smart move. Samsung consumes almost as many panels internally as it sells in the merchant market. IHS iSuppli expects AMOLED display suppliers, equipment makers, material makers, and TV makers to cooperate in developing more efficient and cost-effective ways in order to make large-sized AMOLED panels. As a result, prices are expected to decline: Early production of 55-inch AMOLED panels is likely to be conducted at existing eighth generation amorphous silicon (a-Si) LCD fabs that will be converted to make the oxide silicon backplanes needed for AMOLEDs. Both LGD and Samsung plan to move mass production to eighth generation AMOLED lines in the future. And as manufacturing matures, large sized AMOLED panels have the potential of becoming cheaper. Samsung may end up being its own biggest customer.