(Yicai) April 2 -- TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology’s recent acquisition of South Korean display panel maker LG Display’s factory in Guangzhou not only marks the complete exit of South Korean companies from the Liquid Crystal Display TV panel market, but will also significantly expand Chinese LCD manufacturers’ share of the global market.

TCL China Star held a handover ceremony yesterday to finalize its purchase of LG Display’s 8.5-generation LCD plant in Guangzhou, according to a report released the same day by Chinese market research firm TrendForce.

The Shenzhen-based firm first acquired a 80 percent stake in the factory in September 2024 and then bought the remaining 20 percent in January at a total cost of CNY13.4 billion (USD1.8 billion), according to information released by parent firm Chinese TV giant TCL Group.

TCL China Star now has nine LCD factories and its share of global production capacity for 5th-generation-and-above LCDs will rise by 3.6 percentage points to 22.9 percent, Taipei-based Trendforce said.

This purchase will also push Chinese mainland manufacturers’ share of the world’s 5th-generation-and-above LCD production capacity to over 70 percent from 65 percent last year, said Fan Boyu, TrendForce’s deputy research director. And the combined market share of the top three players, BOE Technology, TCL China Star and HKC, will climb to 66 percent.

Amid a prolonged slump in the global display panel market, South Korean firms have been gradually pulling out from large-size LCD production in recent years. Seoul-based LG Display first signaled its intention to sell its Guangzhou plant in 2023 and selected TCL China Star as the preferred buyer in August last year.

The global display panel market is currently dominated by LCD and OLED technologies. While OLEDs lead in the smartphone and tablet markets, LCDs combined with Mini LED backlight technology are poised to outperform OLEDs in the large-size TV market, according to a recent report by market research firm Omdia.

Global LCD TV panel shipments advanced 3 percent last year from the year before to 242.8 million units but this number is expected to dip to 238.9 million units this year. However, as panel sizes get bigger, the total shipment area is projected to climb by over 5 percent in 2025, London-based Omdia said.

Editor: Kim Taylor