Display Taiwan 2009 (the 11th Flat Panel Display Exposition), which ran from June 10 to 12, 2009, in Taipei, Taiwan, reached a fever pitch in contrast to SID 2009, which took place in San Antonio, the US, in the preceding week.
I visited both of the events, and this contrast made me feel that we are experiencing a major upheaval in the FPD (flat-panel display) industry. First, people are beginning to recognize the fact that the initiative of FPD development is shifting from the US to Asia. Second, the gravity center of the FPD production is moving toward Taiwan and China.
During the three-day exhibition in Taipei, a great number of people visited the booths of panel manufactures such as AU Optronics Corp (AUO), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (CMO) and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT) of Taiwan. It was difficult even to pass in front of the booths, not to mention taking a close look at the exhibits.
I clearly felt more excitement among visitors than I did a year ago at Display Taiwan 2008. In fact, the turnout increased from 31,675 in 2008 and reached 35,318, according to the organizer of the event.
The number of exhibitors, however, dropped from 261 to 179. And I heard many Taiwanese companies are now limiting even domestic business trips. Moreover, I could not find any advanced technologies of, for example, OLED displays exhibited at the site. So, I wondered where the excitement is coming from?
After experiencing the dispirited atmosphere at SID 2009, I felt that the air of excitement at Display Taiwan 2009 harbingers the arrival of a new era in the FPD industry.
AUO and CMO, which exhibited their products at SID for the first time in 2008, did not participate in the event in 2009 and showcased various items designed for practical use at Display Taiwan 2009. In terms of innovativeness, they were inferior to the exhibits at SID. But most of them were almost ready for volume production.
For example, in the field of "green panels," Samsung Electronics Co Ltd showed off a 55-inch panel with a power consumption of 100W or lower at SID 2009. On the other hand, AUO's 55-inch panel exhibited at Display Taiwan 2009 has a power consumption of 150W, which is 42% lower than that of the company's previous product.
In terms of power consumption, Samsung's panel has an advantage over AUO's. However, AUO can start to mass-produce its panel from the third quarter of 2009.
The power consumption of LCD panels is drastically decreasing every year. For example, that of 55-inch panels dropped from 400W or more in 2007 to 200W or more in 2008. Therefore, the difference between 100W and 150W is not significant; it is just a gap on a time axis. And the difference will disappear within one year.
In addition, many basic technologies to lower power consumption have already been developed. And the development of green panels is now in the phase of commercialization rather than development of advanced technologies.
SID is a reputable international conference that has been held 47 times since the first LCD panel was developed and commercialized by RCA Corp of the US in 1968. And it is still regarded as the first international conference on FPDs. Meanwhile, some people are wondering why it is held in the US, which already retreated from the production of FPDs.
This year, the turnout of SID sharply decreased due to the location, economic slump and swine flu. Rumor has it that many Japanese companies did not participate in the event for cost saving under the pretext of the flu. But from another perspective, SID might no longer be worth the expense for them.
SID is an international conference to discuss future technologies, but it is becoming apart from the real business world. Though it presents many announcements on innovative technologies that help expand the FPD industry, such as oxide semiconductors and flexible displays, most of those announcements are now made by Asian companies. And it is possible that, from this year, they will start to make the announcements of their innovative technologies at academic conferences and exhibitions in their home countries.
The economic slump and the swine flu also cast a shadow over Display Taiwan 2009. Nevertheless, the exhibition was filled with energy because of the growing expectation for the Chinese market fueled by the "home appliances to the countryside" project.
In fact, some buyers visited Display Taiwan 2009 from China. The immense excitement was created probably because the exhibition was based on the real business world.
In the second half of 2009, various international conferences and exhibitions will be held in Asian countries. They include FPD International and IDW (International Display Workshops) in Japan, IMID (International Meeting on Information Display) in Korea, ASID (Asia SID) in Guangzhou, China. Those conferences and exhibitions will provide a measure of the future of the FPD industry.
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