Flat panel manufacturing ‘to begin shift from China to India’

India is set to become the next big display manufacturing country. That’s according to a prediction by research and consulting firm DSCC that was highlighted today by digital signage blog Sixteen:Nine.

The prediction is one of ten that appear in an annual list, covering the whole of the display market, including consumer applications, produced by DSCC cofounder and principal analyst Bob O’Brien.

Writing that he expects to see an expansion in flat panel display manufacturing capacity in India, O’Brien said that he was breaking one of his rules for annual predictions because the result may not be known with certainty by the end of 2024. “But it’s so important to the display industry that I had to include it,” he added.

Discussions about building flat panel display fabs in India had taken place at several times in the first two decades of the 21st century. For instance, Indian company TwinStar held discussion with LG about technology sharing during a display industry shortage in 2017 but dropped plans as production ramped up in China in 2018 leading to oversupply. However, sister company Vedanta is expected to begin mass production of LCD in 2026, and this company alone will have an LCD capacity of 4.2m sq metres, 1% of the worldwide total, by 2027.

DSCC is expecting more expansions to be announced and planned in 2024.

Bob O’Brien, cofounder and principal analyst at DSCC, speaks at the first India Display Manufacturing Conference

The consultancy says the situation is now more favourable for flat panel display production in India than in 2017 for a number of reasons, including:

• a major subsidy program for semiconductors and flat panel displays
• a deterioration in political relationships between the US and China, and between India and China
• Chinese domination of flat panel displays, with an increase from 30% worldwide capacity in 2016 to 74% of worldwide capacity by 2025
• the expected faster growth of the economy in India as China has slowed
• a younger growing population in India, compared to China’s population which has peaked and is falling
• a domestic TV market which is the third largest after China and the US, but which is continuing to grow.

If India were to ban LCD imports from China, it would create a distinct flat panel display market isolated from the worldwide display industry and its cycle of shortage and oversupply, which would encourage domestic manufacturers to ramp up production, the consultancy said.

DSCC is also predicting double-digit annual growth in demand for flat panels in India, in the coming years, even as growth slows elsewhere.

The prediction follows a decision by the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) and the Society for Information Display (SID) to hold the first India Display Manufacturing Conference during the Electronica and Productronica trade shows at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre on 13 September 2023.

Announcing the conference, the associations said India’s domestic display manufacturing industry is projected to grow at a 29.% compound annual growth rate due to a surge in production of mobile phones, TVs and IT hardware.

Speaking afterwards, Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), said: “The Indian display market is at a critical inflection point resulting from expanding domestic volumes as well as growing share of exports. To leverage these demand trends, we must establish capabilities in terms of machinery as well as talent development. This edition of the India Display Manufacturing Conference saw many ideas emerge for the development of India’s display market ecosystem.”

Achin Bhowmik, president of SID, added: “Given the massive potential of this market, we wanted to develop a conference that would direct the attention of all stakeholders to this product category to ensure it would not be eclipsed by the meteoric rise of India’s semiconductor industry.”