LG Display and Samsung Display are expected to increase their investment in OLED panels due to the expansion of OLED application scenarios and the increase in customers, TheELEC reported, citing supply chain sources.
Samsung Display is considering whether to invest in OLED for IT (ie, computers). The company has never stopped developing the equipment needed for IT OLED, and if the plan for the IT OLED production line is finalized, the company may start to put the production line into operation in the first half of next year.
LG Display is expected to invest in an IT OLED production line, which will supply the iPad, and a 10.5-generation OLED production line. It is reported that the company has started to develop and test IT OLED panel samples.
This is not the first time the two panel giants have sought to expand OLED production. Media reports late last month said Samsung Display plans to invest 17 billion yuan to shift its LCD 7-2 production line to produce OLED panels. LG Display, the other major player in the news, followed with news a few days later that it would launch its Paju E6-3 production line to expand its small and medium size OLED capacity to absorb orders from Apple.
The cost reduction effect shows that the downstream demand of OLED is high
Since the beginning of this year, the OLED screen downstream demand momentum is good, and the permeability is rapidly rising.
Among them, the smart phone field to bear the brunt. According to UBI Research, domestic smartphone maker Q1 launched 57 OLED smartphones, more than double the year-on-year growth. Insight expects OLED to account for 40 percent of global smartphone panel shipments this year, while shipments of OLED screens in mainland China are expected to rise to 100 million units.
That, of course, is due to OLEDs being embraced by mobile phone manufacturers. Industry giant Apple took the lead, overtaking Samsung as the largest buyer of OLED panels for smartphones, with a purchase volume of 169 million units this year, up 47.6 percent year on year. Several brands, including Oppo, are also planning to increase the use of OLED panels.
In addition, OLED applications in TVs, computers, tablets, AR/VR and many other markets are also expanding.
It is worth mentioning that the on-board display will also be included in the application scenarios of OLED. Research institute OMDIA pointed out that in the future, OLED, Mini-LED and Micro-LED will gradually replace LCD to dominate the high-end car market.
Wan Lian Securities analyst Huang Kan believes that a big reason for the rapid growth of OLED panel demand is the cost reduction effect. Thanks to this, OLED has gradually penetrated from high-end devices to low-end devices in terms of small panels. For larger panels, the price gap between OLED and LCD panels is shrinking, driving up demand.
Panel manufacturers busy layout industry chain to take advantage of the situation
Downstream market demand volume, panel manufacturers also began to force.
In addition to the above Samsung and LG, domestic BOE, TCL Huaxing, Shenzhen Tianma and other panel manufacturers have laid out the track. Omdia expects to ship 584.5m units of OLED this year, up 28 per cent from 2020.
On the other hand, in recent years, China has issued a number of policies, such as the Three-Year Action Plan for the Surpassing Development of the New Display Industry, to strongly support the development of OLED, bringing further opportunities for domestic industrial chain manufacturers.
Analysts pointed out that by 2022, the total production capacity of OLED panels in the mainland will account for nearly 45%, and the market share is expected to continue to increase as the production capacity further increases and the yield increases.
