OLEDs for smartphones expected to overtake LCDs

Samsung Display's flexible OLED panel. / Courtesy of Samsung Display

Small- and medium-sized OLED panels, whose production has been led by Samsung Display, are expected to have more than a 50 percent share of the smartphone market next year, overtaking TFT-LCD panels.

According to market research firm IHS Markit, the share of OLED panels for smartphones has increased consistently from 40.8 percent in 2016 to 45.7 percent this year.

Next year, the share of OLED panels is expected to surpass that of TFT-LCD panels for the first time.

The market research firm said sales of OLED panels are expected to reach $20.7 billion next year, with the share of the smartphone market expected to reach 50.7 percent. On the other hand, sales of TFT-LCD panels are expected to reach $20.2 billion, with the share expected to reach 49.3 percent.

The OLED panel market is expected to continue to grow, with the share is expected to reach 73 percent in 2025.

The rapid growth of the OLED panel market is attributed to its excellent image quality in addition to its thin and light characteristics. Also, flexible OLED panels with an unbreakable substrate are easy to produce for full-screen displays.

Samsung Display said flexible OLED panels had been used for Galaxy S series and iPhone X models, and the products had been increasingly supplied for Chinese smartphones as well.

OLED panels have been regarded as premium products, but are now changing the market because they are surpassing LCDs in performance and price competiveness.

The display maker under tech giant Samsung Electronics attributed the rapid growth of the OLED market to its consistent efforts in research and development.

The firm began to mass-produce OLED panels in 2007 for the first time in the world and has maintained the top spot in developing and mass-producing cutting-edge flexible OLEDs for the global market.

The company held an overwhelming 95.4 percent share in the small- and medium-sized OLED panel market during the first quarter, and 97.4 percent in the higher value-added flexible OLED market.

The firm said Thursday its unbreakable smartphone panel had been certified in the United States after being approved by Underwriters Laboratories, an official testing company for the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The company added that the product can be applied to various devices from smartphones to military equipment.

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