UBI Research estimates hat shipments of OLED panels for IT applications (tablets, monitors and laptops) will reach 48.8 million units by 2027, growing from around 9.5 million units in 2022 (a CAGR of 39%).

In 2022-2024, the main application for OLED panels is in laptops, but this will change from 2025 and onwards as tablets will also become a dominant applications (as Apple will start adoping OLEDs in its high-end iPads).

LG Display announced that its OLED TV and monitor panels has been recognized as having a perfect black level in any environment, from UL Solutions. The company received the new verification for its panels ranging from 42-inch to 97-inch.

LGD says that it is the only company that has been recognized in this verification for TV and monitor panels.

According to reports, LG Display will start producing mid-sized W-OLED panels, as it is concerned that demand for TV panels is on the decline.

LGD will start producing 27-inch WOLED panels as early as by the end of October, targeting small TVs and gaming monitors. LGE will be LGD's first customer, and it plans to release its 27-inch OLED display in Q1 2023.

Last month LG announced its first bendable OLED monitor/TV, the OLED Flex LX3. The company now announced that it will start shipping it next month, for $2,999.

LG's OLED Flex LX3 is a bendable OLED monitor/TV that features a flexible 42" 4K 120Hz WOLED panel that can change from a flat shape to a 900R curved one (with twenty levels of possible curvature settings). Other features include D0lby Atmos, two 40W speakers, HDMI 2.1, VRR, ALLM and G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync support.

DSCC says that spending on equipment for the production of large area OLED panels (used in TVs and monitors) have decreased from $3 billion in 2019 to $2.05 billion in 2020, $1.47 billion in 2021 and will drop further to $1.42 billion in 2022.

DSCC estimates that in 2023, the spending on such equipment will be zero. But OLED producers will resume buying large OLED equipment in 2024. Spending in 2024 will amount $2.01 billion, and in 2025 - $1.51 billion.

OLED makers are gearing up to increase production of IT OLED panels, used in laptops, monitors and tablets. Towards that, analysts expects over 10 8.5-Gen OLED lines under consideration now in the industry. This drive is led by Samsung Display that confirmed is is building a 8-Gen (2200x2500 mm) OLED production line, that will begin production in 2024.

A 8-Gen (or actually 8.5-Gen) fab uses 2200x2500mm glass substrates. According to a new report in Korea, Samsung actually decided to adopt a larger glass - a 8.7-Gen 2290x2620 mm. The ~10cm increase will increase production efficiency by around 9%, but this means that current 8.5-Gen LCD equipment that Samsung hoped to use will not be usable any more.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an increased demand for high quality IT solutions, including monitors and collaborative tools, which prompted OLED display makers to start offering solutions for this market for applications like computer monitors, signage and more.

OLED displays that are 20-inch or more suffer from incompatibility with standard capacitive touch, because the thin OLED panel results in large parasitic capacitive coupling with the touch surface. The dynamic driving of OLEDs (where only lit pixels draw current) further reduces the capacitive touch performance by introducing unpredictable “display pattern noise”. These issues are easily mitigated in small area displays, but as OLEDs increase in size, the performance and costs of capacitive solutions suffer.

Samsung Display's CEO Choi Joo-sun says that the company sees a great potential for OLED displays in the IT market (mainly notebook and monitor displays), and that Samsung is building a new 8-Gen (2200x2500 mm) production line which will begin production in 2024. The glass efficiency at 8-Gen (uncut glass) will be 20% higher compared to Samsung's 6-Gen lines.

This new fab was already reported last year, but this is the first time we officially hear a commitment from SDC. According to DSCC, there are over 10 8.5-Gen OLED lines under consideration now in the industry, as demand for OLED panels for laptops, tablets and monitors is o the rise. Samsung is the current leader in OLED IT displays.

Earlier this month we reported that LG Display aims to start making 20-inch OLED panels, but we did not know the technology that LGD will adopt - WOLED (from its 8.5-Gen TV lines) or RGB (from its pOLED 6-Gen lines).

LGD now says that it is indeed developing panels for gaming monitors, with sizes ranging from 20-inch to 30-inch. The company also disclosed that these will be WOLED panels, produced at its 8.5-Gen lines. LGD also confirms that the first panels will be released by the end of 2022.

DSCC says that in Q2 2022, OLED panel revenues increased 12% compared to Q2 2021, while shipment units declined 3%. Fewer OLEDs were shipped, but revenues increased as we've seen an increased growth in high value panels (gaming, monitors, laptops, automotive, etc) and also an improved form factor adoption in smartphones.

In Q2 2022, smartphones remained the largest OLED application with a 76% unit and revenue share. OLED smartwatches had a 16% unit share (and a 6% revenue share), and OLED TVs had a 11% revenue share (up from 8% in Q1 2022).