Digital

Televisions

Flat-panel TVs; final assembly in Mexico and China, panels from Korea, China, and Taiwan.

Why it matters · TV prices reflect panel cycles and tariffs; Mexico assembly buffers some China exposure.

7

Inputs

26

Companies

0

Facilities

10

Source countries

How it's made

The process

  1. 01

    Display Panel Fabrication

    Large LCD or OLED panels are fabricated on Gen 8.5/10.5 glass in Asian fabs — TFT array, color filter, cell assembly and (LCD) backlight/LED integration.

  2. 02

    SoC & Board Production

    The TV main board with the system-on-chip (image processor + smart-TV SoC), tuner, power supply and wireless modules is manufactured.

  3. 03

    Module Integration

    Panel, driver ICs, backlight (LCD), and main board are integrated into a display module and tested.

  4. 04

    Final Assembly

    Module is fitted into the bezel/chassis with speakers, stand and ports — final assembly concentrated in Mexico (for US market) and China.

  5. 05

    Test & Packaging

    Picture, smart-OS and safety are tested; sets are foam-packed and palletized.

Where it comes from

Country dependencies

Weighted share of upstream inputs sourced from each country.

CountryWeighted shareInputs supplied to televisions
MXMexico42%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Backlight LED Modules · Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV) +2
MYMalaysia17%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Backlight LED Modules · TV Power Supply Board (SMPS) +1
JPJapan15%Appliance Control Board / MCU · Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays · TV Backlight LED Modules +3
ILIsrael13%TV SoC / Image Processor
TWTaiwan12%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Backlight LED Modules · Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV) +3
DEGermany10%Appliance Control Board / MCU · Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays · TV Backlight LED Modules +3
KRSouth Korea (Republic of Korea)8%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Enclosure, Bezel & Stand · TV Power Supply Board (SMPS) +1
CRCosta Rica7%TV SoC / Image Processor
VNVietnam7%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Backlight LED Modules · Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV) +2
CNChina7%Appliance Control Board / MCU · TV Backlight LED Modules · Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV) +2

Shipped finished

Top finished-goods sources

Countries that ship finished televisions directly to the U.S. — distinct from the upstream raw inputs above.

CountryU.S. importsShare of U.S. imports
MXMexico$9.0B82%
VNVietnam$1.5B14%
CNChina$198M2%
TWTaiwan$173M2%
THThailand$71M<1%
IDIndonesia$59M<1%
KRSouth Korea (Republic of Korea)$33M<1%

Who makes it

Supplier companies

26 companies in this supply chain, sorted by market share.

German multinational producing the Hi-Flow Plus nitrocellulose membrane — one of the two industry-standard LFA membranes globally. Received a €121M US DoD/HHS contract to build the first US lateral flow membrane facility in Sheboygan, WI (2022) to reduce concentration risk in Cork, Ireland.

Supplies these inputs

Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays

Business segments

  • Life Science (MilliporeSigma — US Brand)42% rev
  • Healthcare (Pharma — Small Relative to Life Science)22% rev
  • Electronics / Performance Materials (Liquid Crystals & OLED)28% rev
  • Surface Solutions & Specialty Chemicals8% rev
TPV Technology
HQ HK30% share

World's largest TV/monitor ODM (makes AOC, Philips TVs); molds enclosures, bezels and stands and assembles sets in China.

Supplies these inputs

TV Enclosure, Bezel & Stand

Replaceability

Substitutability 50%

Business segments

  • Monitors & Displays
  • Televisions
  • Enclosures & Assembly
JNC Corporation
HQ JP25% share

Japanese liquid-crystal maker (formerly Chisso); ~25% of display LC materials. Sold its JNC Suzhou LC business and patents to China’s HCCH in March 2025.

Supplies these inputs

Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays

Business segments

  • Liquid crystal materials
  • Specialty & functional chemicals
Nippon Chemi-Con
HQ JP25% share

World's largest aluminum electrolytic capacitor maker — the failure-critical SMPS component.

Supplies these inputs

TV Power Supply Board (SMPS)

Replaceability

Substitutability 45%

Business segments

  • Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors
  • Electrode Foil & Materials
  • Other Capacitors & Devices
DIC Corporation
HQ JP15% share

Japanese specialty-chemicals maker; ~15% of display liquid-crystal materials.

Supplies these inputs

Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays

Business segments

  • Color (Sun Chemical)
  • Functional products
  • Food colours & health (spirulina)

Major Japanese aluminum electrolytic / film capacitor maker for power supplies.

Supplies these inputs

TV Power Supply Board (SMPS)

Replaceability

Substitutability 45%

Business segments

  • Capacitors
  • NECST (Energy Systems)
  • Circuit Products & Devices

Major Korean LED maker for backlights and lighting.

Supplies these inputs

TV Backlight LED Modules

Business segments

  • General & Display LEDs
  • UV LEDs (Violeds)
  • Human-Centric & Automotive

3M Company (Maplewood MN; NYSE: MMM; ~$23B revenue after Health Care spinoff; ~$35B before) is the dominant US manufacturer of N95 respirators and is vertically integrated into meltblown polypropylene nonwoven production. 3M manufactures its own electret (electrostatically charged) meltblown filtration media at its Arden Hills, MN facility — a rare example of vertical integration in nonwovens. 3M's N95 respirators (1860, 8210, 8110S) use proprietary Filtrete electret media. During COVID-19, 3M doubled N95 production to ~2 billion respirators/year (from ~1B) but could not scale meltblown capacity fast enough to meet demand — the Arden Hills facility was the binding constraint. 3M also sells Filtrete HVAC filter media (MERV 11-13) made from the same meltblown technology, generating ~$700M/year in home filtration revenue alongside its respirator business.

Supplies these inputs

TV Backlight LED Modules

Business segments

  • Safety & Industrial35% rev
  • Transportation & Electronics28% rev
  • Consumer22% rev
  • Health Care (partial, Solventum spin-off 2024)15% rev

Fabless maker of media SoCs for smart TVs, set-top boxes and Android TV devices.

Supplies these inputs

TV SoC / Image Processor

Replaceability

Substitutability 40% · 9 mo to replace

Business segments

  • TV & set-top-box SoCs
  • AV / multimedia processors
  • AIoT / smart-home SoCs
  • Audio & devices

BOE Technology Group Co. (SZSE: 000725; ~¥200B revenue; state-owned enterprise ultimately controlled by Beijing municipal government through BOEAG) is China's national champion display maker and world's largest laptop LCD panel supplier; ~20%+ and growing share of global laptop panels. BOE received an estimated $60B+ in cumulative state subsidies (grants, subsidized land, below-market loans from policy banks) from 2003-2024 — by far the largest state-sponsored industrial buildout in display manufacturing history. Key fabs: Beijing B7 (Gen 8.5), Chengdu B7+ (Gen 8.6+), Wuhan B10 (Gen 10.5), Chongqing B10+ (Gen 10.5+), Fuzhou B18 (Gen 8.6 OLED). BOE is the first Chinese company to qualify as a supplier for Apple MacBook Pro OLED panels (starting 2024 qualification; production ramp 2025-2026 — though Samsung Display and LG Display remain Apple's primary OLED sources). BOE's aggressive expansion drove LG Display and AUO out of mainstream LCD into OLED/specialty.

Supplies these inputs

Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV)

Replaceability

Substitutability 40% · 18 mo to replace

Business segments

  • LCD Display Panels (World #1 by Volume)45% rev
  • OLED Flexible Displays30% rev
  • Medical and Specialty Displays15% rev
  • IoT + Industrial10% rev

World's largest ABS resin maker (~2.1M t/a; Tainan + Zhenjiang, China).

Supplies these inputs

TV Enclosure, Bezel & Stand

Business segments

  • ABS & Styrenics
  • PMMA / Optical Materials
  • Specialty Polymers & Materials

Chinese display/OLED materials maker (est. 2022); acquired JNC Suzhou plus its liquid-crystal patents in March 2025; building 50 t/yr LC-mixture + 200 t/yr monomer capacity.

Supplies these inputs

Liquid Crystals for LCD Displays

Business segments

  • Liquid crystal materials
  • Pharmaceutical intermediates & fine chemicals

LG Display Co. Ltd. (KRX: 034220; ~KRW 26T revenue; 37.9% owned by LG Electronics, 7.4% by LG Corp) is South Korea's largest display maker; ~15% laptop display market share, predominantly premium OLED and IPS LCD. LG Display's Paju Korea complex (P8, P9, P10 fabs) produces both IPS LCD and OLED panels — Paju is the world's largest OLED panel production site. LGD is executing an explicit strategic retreat from LCD toward OLED: its Guangzhou China Gen 8.5 LCD fab (capacity 90,000+ sheets/month) is being closed or sold as Chinese makers commoditized the LCD market. LGD supplies OLED panels for the Apple MacBook Pro 14"/16" (launched 2024) and Dell XPS OLED. The pivot to OLED is existential — LGD cannot compete with BOE on LCD price; OLED premium is its survival path.

Supplies these inputs

Large-Format Display Panel (LCD/OLED TV)

Replaceability

Substitutability 40% · 18 mo to replace

Business segments

  • TV OLED Panels (WOLED/OLED evo)35% rev
  • IT OLED & LCD (Laptop, Monitor)32% rev
  • Smartphone OLED (P-OLED)18% rev
  • Automotive Displays15% rev

Taiwan-based fabless semiconductor company; world's #1 smartphone SoC supplier by unit volume (~30% global share). Dimensity 9000/9200/9300 for flagship Android; Helio G series for mid-range. Also dominant in smart TV chips, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Fabless — exclusively uses TSMC and Samsung for manufacturing.

Supplies these inputs

TV SoC / Image Processor

Replaceability

Substitutability 35% · 9 mo to replace

Business segments

  • Smartphone SoC (Dimensity, Helio)55% rev
  • Smart TV & Display Processors15% rev
  • Wi-Fi & Connectivity12% rev
  • Automotive & Industrial10% rev

Eindhoven, Netherlands-based semiconductor company (NASDAQ: NXPI); the dominant supplier of CAN bus transceivers and automotive microcontrollers used in agricultural ECUs. TJA family CAN transceivers (TJA1042, TJA1050, TJA1040) are the de facto standard in automotive AND agricultural CAN bus networks — every ISOBUS-compliant ECU and implement controller contains NXP CAN transceivers. S32K series Arm Cortex-M automotive MCUs support CAN FD (up to 8 Mbps) and ISO 26262 functional safety (ASIL B/D); widely used in tractor zone ECUs, body control, and electrification. ISOBUS (ISO 11783) is built on CAN bus (ISO 11898); NXP dominates the transceiver market that underpins every ISOBUS communication on every modern tractor, combine, and implement. Also major supplier for automotive ADAS, V2X, and RF systems.

Supplies these inputs

Appliance Control Board / MCU

Replaceability

Substitutability 50% · 6 mo to replace

Business segments

  • Automotive Semiconductors (World #1)55% rev
  • Secure Identification + NFC (Passport + Payments)20% rev
  • Industrial IoT + Edge Computing15% rev
  • RF + Power + Connectivity10% rev

World's largest LED maker; invented the high-brightness blue LED (Nobel Prize 2014) that enables white LED lighting.

Supplies these inputs

TV Backlight LED Modules

Business segments

  • LED / Solid-State Lighting78% rev
  • Laser Diodes14% rev
  • Phosphors & Specialty Compounds8% rev

Leading maker of high-voltage AC-DC power-conversion ICs for SMPS / chargers / TV power boards.

Supplies these inputs

TV Power Supply Board (SMPS)

Business segments

  • High-voltage power-conversion ICs
  • GaN power devices
  • High-voltage gate drivers