Corning has disclosed plans to hike its display glass substrate prices in the second quarter of 2021 to reflect increased costs in logistics, energy, raw materials and other operational expenses during the current glass shortage.
The company said that additionally, the costs of precious metals required for maintaining reliable glass substrate manufacturing have risen significantly since 2020.
"While Corning has sought to offset these added costs with productivity enhancements, it can no longer fully absorb them," said the company said in a statement.
Corning expects glass supply to remain short-to-tight in the upcoming quarters and will continue to partner with customers to maximize its glass supply.
Panel makers have seen tight supply for glass substrates, and have also raised their quotes to reflect price increases for the purchases of other crucial materials and parts such as driver ICs and polarizers, according to industry sources.
Polarizer suppliers have raised their quotes by 5-10% in first-quarter 2021 due to the insufficient supply of upstream compensation films and foreign exchange fluctuations.
The supply of LCD drive ICs has been tight since the fourth quarter of 2020, resulting in price hikes of 10-20% for related chips, said the sources, adding that the tight supply will persist in the foreseeable future.
Due to the tight capacity at wafer foundry houses, driver IC suppliers are considering hiking their quotes again by 10% in the second quarter of 2021, the sources indicated.
