OLED panels new growth engine for display makers

Delegates learn about an OLED transparent TV at an expo in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in April. (CHEN JIMIN/CHINA NEWS SERVICE)

Chinese display panel makers are doubling down on cutting-edge semiconductor display technologies represented by organic light-emitting diodes, as an increasing number of OLED panels are gradually being applied in smartphones, tablets, laptops and midsized electronic devices.

BOE Technology Group Co Ltd is accelerating steps to expand its presence in the OLED display sector, which boasts immense application potential in various fields such as vehicle-mounted displays, smartphones, televisions and wearable gadgets.

Currently, BOE owns three flexible active-matrix organic light-emitting diode production lines in Chengdu and Mianyang in Sichuan province, as well as in Chongqing. It has announced plans to set up a new AMOLED production line in Chengdu. The products will be mainly high-end touch screens such as those used on mid-sized laptops and tablets.

The company said consumers have shown increasing demand for laptops and tablets that are thinner and more portable, bolstering the development of the flexible and foldable display panel industry.

Market research firm Omdia said BOE secured the top position nationwide in terms of shipments of flexible OLED panels in 2023 and ranked second across the globe behind South Korea's Samsung Display.

Industry insiders said that compared with traditional liquid crystal displays, OLED is a relatively new technology and part of the latest innovation in displays, and is better in terms of image contrast, brightness and color spectrum.

The global penetration rate of OLED panels in smartphones worldwide will reach nearly 60 percent in 2025, as major smartphone manufacturers have adopted OLED panels in their devices and the price of phones equipped with OLED panels continue to decline, according to marketing consultancy Sigmaintell Consulting.

Li Yaqin, general manager of Sigmaintell Consulting, said the OLED panels used in mid-sized electronic devices, such as laptops, vehicle-mounted equipment, tablets and monitors, will see rapid growth in the next two to three years.

Li estimates that the sales revenue of the global display industry will reach $114.3 billion in 2025, while the revenue from OLED sector will amount to $43.3 billion, accounting for a 38 percent share in the overall display market worldwide.

The penetration rate of OLED panels used in tablets is expected to increase from 5.7 percent in 2024 to 17.9 percent in 2028, said the consultancy.

TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology, a subsidiary of Chinese consumer electronics maker TCL Technology Group, announced in November the mass production of its inkjet printing OLED technology, which has better image quality, lower power consumption and longer life span.

The move marks a new round of technological revolution in the display industry. TCL CSOT said it will drive the technological advancement and industrial upgrading of upstream and downstream enterprises, and promote the application of inkjet printing OLED technology in emerging fields such as medical, automotive and the metaverse.

Zhao Jun, senior vice-president of TCL Technology Group and CEO of TCL CSOT, said the penetration rate of OLED in mid-sized devices will improve in the next five years. He noted that OLED panels are increasingly being used in medium and high-end smartphones, tablets, laptops and vehicle-mounted devices, and that he is bullish on the huge growth potential from the esports display segment.

According to a report by industry tracker Display Supply Chain Consultants, shipments of OLED screens used in high-end IT devices will increase to 44 million units in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 51 percent. DSCC also forecasts that the revenue from OLED tablet panels will exceed $2 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 46 percent.

Chinese display panel supplier Visionox Technology Inc is accelerating steps to expand its presence in the flexible OLED sector, bolster technological advancements in cutting-edge displays and strengthen cooperation with terminal device makers.

The company said cumulative shipments of its OLED panels reached 240 million units, while shipments of AMOLED panels used in wearable devices took the top spot worldwide in the first half of 2024.

Zhou Hua, chief analyst at CINNO Research, a flat panel display consultancy firm, said China has become the world's largest display panel producer and is expected to account for about 76 percent of global OLED production capacity by 2025.