By Kevin Chen | Published on May 5, 2025 at 17:59 | Categories: Components, TV, Panels
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariff measures, only to postpone their implementation by 90 days shortly after. This sudden shift has introduced new uncertainty into the global economic environment. With the tariff issue escalating, what impact does it have on panel prices?
As May begins, demand for TV panels is clearly weakening. Some brand clients have taken this opportunity to pressure panel manufacturers for price concessions. Aware of the softening demand, panel makers have responded with production cuts during the Labor Day holiday. Industry estimates suggest an average utilization rate adjustment of 6–7% in May compared to April, in hopes that this supply-demand recalibration will temporarily ease the downward pressure on prices. According to Eric Fan, Vice President of Research at TrendForce, TV panel prices are expected to remain flat across the board.
Monitor panel demand, on the other hand, has benefited from the intensifying tariff issue, maintaining strong pull-in momentum. As a result, prices may continue to rise, although the slowdown in TV panel demand in Q2 could start to affect the monitor segment. Fan notes that Open Cell monitor panels are set to rise by $0.2 in May. For panel modules, 21.5-inch and 27-inch sizes are expected to increase by $0.1, while the 23.8-inch size may see a $0.2 uptick due to stronger demand.
As for laptop panels, varying levels of Southeast Asia production capacity among brands—combined with the 90-day tariff exemption window—leave limited room for near-term capacity expansion. Pull-in momentum for laptop panels has not seen a significant increase and remains steady. However, panel makers are concerned that demand might freeze once the exemption ends, prompting a more aggressive push to secure client orders. This has led to a different pricing dynamic from that of the monitor panel market. Fan predicts that laptop panel prices will remain flat in May, with manufacturers relying on private negotiations and flexible pricing to tie clients to favorable deals.
▲ TrendForce Early May Panel Price Forecast。（Source：TrendForce）
According to TrendForce's early May panel price forecast, the average price for a 65-inch TV panel is USD 177, 55-inch at USD 127, 43-inch at USD 66, and 32-inch at USD 36.
For monitor panels, the 27-inch panel is priced at USD 63, while the 23.8-inch panel averages USD 49.9. In the laptop panel segment, the 17.3-inch panel is priced at USD 38.3, the 15.6-inch at USD 40.3, the 14-inch at USD 26.9, and the 11.6-inch at USD 25.1.
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