Samsung Display to benefit from surge of 5G smartphone

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 10 5G smartphones equipped with Samsung Display's OLED displays. / Courtesy of Samsung Display

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Display expects its OLED display business will greatly benefit from the surge of fifth-generation (5G) network-enabled smartphones, the display-making arm of Samsung Electronics said Sunday.

With more countries set to adopt the super-fast network from 2020, the company said the global smartphone market, which has been struggling with stagnant demand and tougher competition, is expected to rebound.

Also, the soaring growth of 5G-enabled smartphones is estimated to fuel the demand for OLED displays, of which the company has the largest share in the world.

Samsung Display is a global leader in small and medium-sized OLED displays, which are mainly used for smartphones, as it has an 86 percent market share in the smartphone OLED display market as of the first quarter of 2019, according to market researcher HIS Markit.

Compared with LCD panels, OLED displays have been increasingly used for smartphones as they consume less battery power and are thinner and slimmer than LCD panels, enabling manufacturers to use a larger battery. The displays also have a much faster response time and better color representation than LCDs.

In that sense, many smartphone makers such as Samsung, Apple and Chinese makers including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo are using OLED displays for their high-end smartphones.

“With more countries commercializing 5G network services starting 2020, the demand for OLED displays, which enables manufacturers to utilize more space for more sensors, larger batteries and larger screens, is also expected to soar,” the company said.

“As we announced in the conference call for the third quarter of 2019, an increasing number of phone makers are expected to adopt more OLED displays for their 5G smartphones,” it added.

According to data by industry researcher IDC, the number of 5G-enabled smartphones will increase to 190 million in 2020, about 17 times more than the 11 million in 2019. This is because more countries such as China, Japan, Australia and European nations will commercialize the super-fast network services.

The agency estimated that the 5G smartphone market will have an annual growth rate of 164 percent and about 540 million 5G-enabled phones will be sold in 2023, which will account for 31 percent of the entire smartphone market.