South Korea is expected to remain the top LCD producer with 41.4 percent, down from 43.1 percent in 2016. Taiwan will come in second with an estimated 2017 share of 27.5 percent, a decrease from 28.8 percent in 2016.

Chinese firms including BOE Technology Group Co. and China Start Optoelectronics Technology have increased investment in large screen LCDs while their Korean competitors are gravitating toward high-end organic light-emitting displays.

According to market survey firms, the production of LCDs in terms of size will increase 4 percent this year to 175.3 square kilometers from 169.2 square kilometers last year.

The shipments of the LCD panels for TVs are expected to drop to about 251.29 million units in 2017 from 264.5 million units last year, but the output in terms of size is expected to expand as consumers are increasingly turning to larger TVs 

The average TV screen size is forecast to expand from 41.3 inches last year to 42.6 inches for 2017.

Korean display makers are beefing up production of higher-value OLED panels. Samsung Display Co., which accounts for 96 percent of the global sales of small- and mid-size OLED panels, has boosted investment in its flexible OLED production lines.

LG Display Co. has also earmarked some 70 percent of this year's more than 5 trillion won facility investment for OLED production. (Yonhap)