China's display makers struggle to raise prices as AI boom drives up costs
Panel makers are squeezed on two sides: materials and the brands.
Mainland China's biggest panel makers have been trying to raise TV panel prices, research firm TrendForce (集邦科技) says, but its own price quotes haven't moved since late August. In late October, TrendForce put the average price of a 65-inch TV panel at US$173, a 55-inch at US$123 and a 32-inch at US$35, according to TechNews (科技新報). Its monitor and notebook panel prices were unchanged too, and it expects prices for all three uses to hold flat in October.
Mainland China's three biggest panel makers sent price-increase notices in mid-September, TrendForce said in September. It said the three, BOE (京东方), TCL CSOT (TCL华星) and HKC (惠科), hold 70% of TV panel supply, and that they decided to cut output over China's National Day holiday in early October. TrendForce expected that to cut October utilization of its larger production lines by 4.2 percentage points from September, to 79.6%.
The makers are squeezed by costs. TrendForce estimated in September that total costs for TV panels would rise 4% to 7% in the fourth quarter from the third, as AI demand crowds out upstream materials capacity. In its late-October commentary, TrendForce said panel makers can only try to control output and announce coming price rises to create a sense that prices are going up.
Buyers are pushing back. TrendForce expects major TV brands' panel purchases to fall about 5% in the fourth quarter from the third. It says brands are unlikely to accept higher prices in the short term and may adjust order volumes to test the makers' bottom line.
Laptops look worse. TrendForce doesn't rule out a drop of close to 30% in the top six laptop brands' panel purchases in the fourth quarter from the third. In early October it had forecast a fall of more than 20%.
A year earlier, in late October 2025, TrendForce put a 65-inch TV panel at US$171, a 55-inch at US$123 and a 32-inch at US$35. Its notebook panel prices are slightly lower now than then, and its monitor panel prices slightly higher.
Sources: 科技新報 TechNews (TrendForce late-October panel prices), 科技新報 TechNews (TrendForce early-October panel prices), 科技新報 TechNews (TrendForce late-September panel prices), 科技新報 TechNews (TrendForce late-August panel prices), TrendForce (TFT-LCD panel price trends), 科技新報 TechNews (TrendForce late-October 2025 panel prices), 財經新報 TechNews Finance (TrendForce utilization research)
Editor: Ian Lamont
