In view of weak demand for smartphones in the first quarter of 2015, panel makers have lowered quotes for smartphone applications to compete for orders, resulting in drops in such panel pricing, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

As China-based smartphone vendors ZTE, Huawei Device, Coolpad, Lenovo and Xiaomi Technology as well as Taiwan-based vendors Asustek Computer and Acer have made moves to reduce component costs, price competition among panel makers has heated up, the sources said.

Samsung Display, in order to compete for orders to maintain capacity utilization, has lowered quotes for a 5-inch AMOLED panel with HD resolution to below US$20 and won orders from China-based smartphone vendors Meizu and GiONEE, the sources indicated.

Prices for a 5-inch HD TFT-LCD panel have also dropped below US$13, and prices for smartphone-use panels are expected to fall by 15-20% in 2015, the sources said.