TCL Chairman Dongsheng Li - Display Week 2015 Keynote

In the past 10 years, China has put a lot of money into the display industry. For example, in the past five years, all the newly built LCD 8.5-generation and 8.6-generation LCD production lines are in China. Now, since 2010, the new 15-generation LCD production lines that are planned in China have six built by Chinese enterprises and another two by Samsung and LG, which are their factories in China. That means a huge investment in this industry. Another aspect: China is the largest TV manufacturing country in the world, and also a major mobile phone manufacturing country. About 60% of TVs are made in China, and 80% of smartphones are made in China. So China has become the manufacturing center for TVs and mobile phones. As a result, the Chinese market has a huge need for display panels. In the past few years, more large panels, such as 8.5-generation LCD panel lines, and small-sized LTPS lines have been built in China.

There are three factors that have supported the Chinese display industry's development so far. First is money. This industry needs huge investments. In the past five years, total investment has been over 20 billion dollars. This includes large panels, small panels, and the most advanced production lines, which need even more money. Second, the Chinese market for TVs and mobile phones is really huge. The TV market in China is about 50 million sets per year. For smartphones, last year it was 420-423 million units. So this supports the market from domestic demand. Third, Chinese companies have developed their own technology. Five years ago, we just followed other international companies including Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Now it is different. Chinese companies have put resources into technology development, including patents. For example, for TCL in the past five years, we have applied for and been granted over 7,000 patents in display innovation. So Chinese companies are catching up in technology very fast. These factors support the rapid growth of China's display industry.

Yes, there is a big challenge in technology. Technology is developing very fast. In the past 10 years, the market has developed very fast, and technology has evolved equally fast. All players, including Chinese companies, must keep up with the pace of technology. Earlier, in the LCD era, we transferred from TN to IPS, VA, and TFT. Technology transfers from amorphous silicon to LTPS and other options. We are now developing next-generation technologies. For example, just today, we saw the printed display technology. We think it will be the next generation because current OLED technology for large panels uses vacuum evaporation. The evaporation facilities are very expensive, have high material consumption, and low production efficiency, so the price is very high. For example, the size of a 55-inch OLED TV, the price is about 3.9 times that of an LCD TV, which is very high. So I think printed display technology may be a new generation for large-size display products. That means we are putting many resources and efforts into new technology development. So the biggest challenge is technology development. We need to put more money and, importantly, we need to choose the right technology. It is very important to select the right direction. If you put resources including money, you can get good results only if you choose correctly. That is a problem that everyone faces.

The Chinese display industry is integrated. We need more collaboration between different countries and different companies. So I think there are many opportunities in China for foreign companies to invest in the display industry. Of course, for panel manufacturing, it requires huge investment, but in the supporting materials and parts manufacturing, we have developed many new materials and parts. These materials come from different countries and companies. For example, for TCL's printed display technology, we use technology from an American company. They developed that technology. Four years ago, I met the CEO in the US. I looked at this technology, it is very nice, so we discussed cooperation. Now our product is already available in the market. It has been well received in the Chinese market and is confident to be responsible in the global market. So I think cooperation is most important. We are already cooperating with partners worldwide to develop current technology and application and future new generations. At this SID meeting, I have met many people discussing cooperation opportunities. So Display Week is a great place to meet potential new partners and learn about new technology.