The Zhitong Finance App learned that Qunzhi Consulting published an article stating that in 2023, as factors such as automotive chip supply and industry competition boosted the recovery of the global automobile industry, automobile sales rebounded sharply. Combined with the development of intelligent automobiles, intelligent cockpits continue to penetrate the terminal car market, and supply chain demand for in-vehicle display screens is still active. In particular, shipments continued to reach new highs in the second half of the year. Statistics from Qunzhi Consulting show that in 2023, the global automotive display panel front assembly market shipped about 210 million pieces, an increase of about 7% over the previous year. Among them, the front-end market contributed about 190 million pieces, an increase of 5% over the previous year.

In 2023, on the one hand, as mainland China broke through the 30 million vehicle sales mark and set a new historical record, the mainland China automobile market showed unprecedented vitality. The continuous strength of independent brands and technological innovation, particularly significant advantages in the field of intelligence and new energy, strongly promoted the vigorous development of the domestic industrial chain. At the same time, thanks to the complete industrial chain layout and huge domestic demand support, China not only dominates the domestic market in the field of new energy vehicles, but also dominates the global market, gaining a valuable first-mover advantage for the upgrading and development of the entire industrial chain. On the other hand, in-vehicle displays are the core carriers of automotive intelligence, and market demand and technology are constantly improving. Chinese panel manufacturers have taken advantage of their leading position in the global display industry to accurately grasp market trends, actively invest in R&D and innovation, and successfully extend their advantages to the automotive display segment. According to the latest statistics released by Qunzhi Consulting, the shipment share of mainland panel manufacturers in the global automotive display market in 2023 is 44%, fully demonstrating the strong competitiveness and leading position of mainland panel manufacturers in the automotive display industry.

At the same time, market competition is also becoming more transparent and adequate. The “roll price” between downstream terminal car companies is transmitted to the upstream supply chain, causing the display panel industry to face greater competitive pressure. Faced with this challenge, many panel manufacturers are still actively increasing their efforts in the field of automotive display applications. The number of market participants has increased, and the competitive popularity of in-vehicle display racetracks has also increased. Despite this, leading panel companies in the automotive field, such as BOE (BOE), Tianma (Tianma), and AUO (AUO), can still maintain a high market share in the automotive display market with their existing advantages in technology research and development, production capacity scale, brand influence, and customer relationships, and continue to expand the smart cockpit solution business through deepening cooperation with Tier 1 suppliers to enhance their overall competitiveness and market position.

Judging from the competitive pattern of panel manufacturers, the specific performance is as follows:

BOE (000725.SZ)

As a global leader in display technology, BOE makes full use of its accumulation in a-Si LCD, AMOLED, BD Cell, Mini LED, and oxide LCD technologies, combined with large-scale production and cost control advantages brought by higher-generation production lines, and collaborated with BOE Precision's business platform to continue to provide a full range of display solutions for the automotive market. In 2023, BOE's performance in the automotive display panel market was still outstanding. The total annual shipment volume was about 35.4 million pieces, and the market share reached 17%, ranking first in the world's total automotive display shipments. Among them, the front-end market contributed about 23 million units.

Tianma (000050.SZ)

As a senior leader in the automotive display industry, Tianma insisted on deepening strategic investment in the automotive business in the face of pressure from the global supply chain, and demonstrated excellent strategic decision-making ability and accurate grasp of industry trends through continuous optimization and upgrading of smart cockpit solutions. As the market environment gradually picks up in 2023, with its deep technical heritage, strong R&D strength and flexible service system, the company's shipments in the automotive display panel market have maintained a steady trend. The total volume for the whole year reached about 29.5 million pieces, accounting for 14% of the global market share. It continues to rank second in global automotive display shipments, and has a solid foundation and strong competitiveness in the field of automotive displays.

Japan Display (JDI)

Japan shows that it is still facing financial pressure and market challenges in 2023, but it still relies on early partnerships and technical heritage to maintain a certain share in the field of automotive display panels. The annual shipment volume was about 23.9 million automotive display panels, a year-on-year decline of 3%, leading to a decrease in the global automotive display market share to 11%. Although ongoing financial difficulties have limited new business expansion and order growth, Japan has shown hope to respond to market changes by continuously adjusting strategies, increasing cooperation channels, developing new products and optimizing services, and striving to maintain a certain position in the automotive display industry in the future.

AUO

During 2023, with its advantages in curved surface design, large size fit, and cutting-edge display technology such as AMLED, AUO deeply integrated the R&D of automotive displays and human-computer interaction interfaces, and is committed to building advanced smart cabin system solutions, and actively explores new business growth points. Its automotive display business performance increased significantly, with vehicle display panel shipments reaching about 23.3 million pieces, an increase of 11% compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, in order to further strengthen competitiveness and rapid response capabilities in the global automotive display market, AUO Strategy acquired BHTC (Behr-Hella Thermocontrol GmbH) to further expand the automotive display industry and expand the international market, injecting new vitality and competitive advantage into the company's long-term development.

LG Display (LGD)

LG Display continues to increase the proportion of LTPS LCD and OLED automotive display panel products shipped in an effort to maintain a high level of revenue. We continue to invest in R&D, focus on technological innovation and high-end market layout, and continue to break through in high-end automotive display markets such as ultra-large P-OLEDs, transparent OLEDs, and naked eye 3D instrument panels. In 2023, LG Display shipped about 18 million pieces of in-vehicle display panels, an increase of about 11% over the previous year, maintaining strong competitiveness in the field of automotive displays.

Facing the ever-emerging demand for new scenarios, panel manufacturers actively invest in research and development to deeply explore and develop applications for a series of functional integration and cutting-edge display technologies such as AR HUD, curved screens, special-shaped screens, naked eye 3D dashboards, active anti-peeping SPM, gesture recognition, under-screen cameras, transparent displays, etc. Vehicle display technology has entered a cycle where multiple technologies coexist and the iteration cycle is accelerated. This aspect is due to the continuous increase in the degree of intelligence in automobiles. As a core area for vehicle information processing and human-computer interaction, the innovation and development of display technology is particularly important. At the same time, since the interior of the car has relatively plenty of space and lots of creative space, different business scenarios provide a favorable soil for innovation in display technology. On the other hand, in the context of the extended iteration cycle of other display application technologies and the development of micro-innovation trends, vehicle display panels are a highly integrated and personalized platform. Exploring the application of in-vehicle display products has become a new platform for panel manufacturers to showcase their technical capabilities.

Looking at the types of automotive display product technology, under the active impetus of both supply and demand, LTPS LCD technology has developed rapidly in the field of automotive displays in the past few years. According to data from Qunzhi Consulting, global LTPS LCD vehicle display panel shipments reached about 58.7 million pieces in 2023, an increase of 66% over the previous year, accounting for 28% of total vehicle display shipments. Its main participants, such as LG Display, AUO, and the mainland panel manufacturer TCL Huaxing, have also received strong guarantees for their development in the field of automotive displays.

In addition to LTPS LCD, OLED continues to make breakthroughs in the new energy and high-end brand markets. With the continuous improvement of OLED reliability and the continuous decline in costs, it has obtained more project opportunities in the high-end market. According to the latest estimates by Qunzhi Consulting, global OLED vehicle display panel shipments are expected to reach 1.2 million pieces in 2023, an increase of 1.1 times over the previous year.