Shulou(Shulou.com)06/02 Report--

No one can refute that Japan used to be the king of liquid crystals, but only once.

Although liquid crystal technology was first discovered by American laboratories, it was Japan that was the first to commercialize it.

Sharp is known as the "father of liquid crystal". As early as 1973, Sharp took the lead in using LCD screens on calculators. In 1988, Sharp launched the world's first 14-inch liquid crystal display, which gave Japan almost a monopoly on the world LCD panel industry.

From 1990 to 1994, Japan accounted for more than 90% of the global LCD panel industry, and the rest was mainly made in the United States.

It can be said that 1995 was the peak of Japan's liquid crystal industry. In that era when Japan's liquid crystal industry was the best in the world, no one would realize that Japan would lose its voice in this industry in the future.

It was in 1995 that South Korea and Taiwan began to vigorously develop their own liquid crystal industry, and then Samsung and LG of South Korea continued to surpass Japan in scale.

At the same time, LCD in Taiwan began its own research and development of LCD panels, introduced Japanese companies to set up factories in Taiwan to train industrial talents, and then began to compete with Japan for business.

In 2005, Chinese mainland entered the liquid crystal industry, and last year it won the title of global champion in liquid crystal production and became the overlord of the liquid crystal industry.

What kind of dilemma does Japan face today? The last large local LCD panel company, JDI, has lost money in a row, is now waiting for others to inject capital to survive, and faces competition from South Korea and China in the future, the future is uncertain.

Once JDI is acquired, Japan will no longer be able to have a say in the display industry.

In fact, now Japan has begun to buy panels, Sony's high-end TV LCD panels are all from overseas, South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China have respectively become its LCD panel suppliers, Sony may still be able to rely on the brand to continue to eat dividends, but there is no core display panel in the future will inevitably hinder development.

Japan's move towards LCD panels can actually be divided into a trilogy:

The first is to lose the leading position in liquid crystal production.

The second is the loss of the throne of technological leadership. Some people may think that Japan still retains advanced technology, such as Sharp's IGZO display technology, etc., but this kind of leadership is no longer important. On the one hand, it is not much in the lead, and on the other hand, it cannot be industrialized on a large scale, and leading technology can only be acquired.

The third is to lose the advantage of the upstream industrial chain. At present, Japan still has the technology such as evaporation equipment, but without the healthy support of the industrial chain, once other countries succeed in research and development, this advantage is bound to decline rapidly, and this process will not take long.

Why did Japan step down from the LCD throne? What kind of enlightenment does this give us?

The first thing is to pay attention to the timing of technical iterations. In fact, Japan was originally the leader of CRT display and LCD technology, but in the alternating era, Japan gained a lot of benefits from the technological advantages of CRT, so it did not invest so much in the LCD industry, so it was slow step by step.

Whether it is Taiwan, South Korea, or Chinese mainland, they have given considerable support to the rise of the liquid crystal industry.

Samsung and LG and other enterprises themselves are representatives of state enterprises; the Chinese mainland government has given land, financial and policy support, which has led to the development of its own liquid crystal industry.

Of course, with the above two points, we may not be able to successfully seize advanced industries, but without the above two points, the chances are even slimmer.

In fact, whether it is the liquid crystal industry or the automobile industry or any other industry, technological innovation and state support are elements that can not be ignored. For example, the development of electric vehicles bypasses the excessive patents of traditional gasoline engines, and late-developing countries have the opportunity to develop new car brands and dominate the world.

As a matter of fact, the technical problem has never been a simple technical problem. Behind it is the overall economic support, while behind the economy is the political influence. Putting aside these questions, it is not scientific to talk about technological change.

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