Taipei, January 20, 2026
Market research firm TrendForce released its panel price quotes for the second half of January, showing television panels continuing their upward momentum, while notebook (laptop) panels declined across the board and monitor panels remained flat.
According to TrendForce Vice President of Research Fan Boyu , despite pressures from rising memory and other component prices in January, major TV brand customers have aggressively ramped up inventory buildup. These leading brands aim to leverage their stronger access to constrained components like memory compared to smaller competitors, thereby capturing greater market share. As a result, TV panel demand has held up surprisingly well during the traditionally slow first quarter. Coupled with planned production cuts by panel manufacturers starting in February, the overall supply-demand balance for TV panels remains stable, paving the way for a price upcycle throughout Q1.
TrendForce now expects TV panel prices to shift to an upward trend in January, with key mainstream sizes-including 32-inch, 43-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch-each rising by US$1.
For LCD monitor panels, although January is typically a seasonal low period, ongoing component price hikes have prompted some brand customers to accelerate pre-stocking efforts to hedge against further cost increases. This has led to an unexpected early strengthening in monitor panel demand, diverging from usual patterns. Meanwhile, the rising TV panel prices have provided a stronger foundation for panel makers to push monitor panel pricing upward.
In January, open-cell monitor panels are anticipated to be the first to reflect price adjustments, with mainstream sizes such as 23.8-inch IPS and 27-inch IPS expected to increase by US$0.1 to US$0.2. However, monitor module (fully assembled) prices are projected to stay flat.
Notebook panels face a different dynamic. January marks the traditional off-season for laptop demand, but memory price surges have driven brands to adopt a more proactive stocking strategy in Q1. They aim to maximize shipments while components remain in inventory and before end-product prices rise significantly, resulting in stronger demand for notebook panels. At the same time, brands have pushed for greater price concessions from suppliers.
Although panel makers have sensed the uptick in demand, they remain cautious due to the need to maintain customer relationships and the high uncertainty surrounding demand beyond Q2. Consequently, their pricing stance has softened noticeably. Notebook panel prices are expected to continue declining in January, with TN models projected to fall by US$0.1 and IPS models by US$0.2.
This differentiated trend across product categories highlights how component shortages-particularly in memory-are reshaping procurement behaviors and influencing panel pricing in the early part of 2026.
