LG OLED

According to Sino Research, in the first quarter of 2024, small-to-medium AMOLED production in China surpassed the production in Korea, by shipments, for the first time. China's market share was 53.9%, an increase from 44.9% in Q4 2023.

The leading producer is still Samsung Display, with a 41% market share (down from 53.3% last year). BOE has a market share of 17%, Visionox 12%, CSoT 10%, Tianma 9% and LGD 6%. The mean reason for the rise in China production and a decline in Korea's is lower shipments to Apple and an increase in the adoption of OLEDs in Chinese smartphones. 

LG Display announced that Korea's newly launched Great Train eXpress (GTX) subway service has installed the company's 55" transparent OLED displays in the cabin windows.

This is the first subway service in Korea to install transparent OLEDs (similar projects have already been deployed in China, Russia, and Japan). The idea is that the OLEDs create a "comfortable and smart on-board experience by displaying varied content". LGD initally installed 16 OLED displays on a single train with eight cars running on the inaugural GTX line between Suseo and Dongtan. Going forward, the GTX plans to install OLED panels in all of its trains.

Germany-based Loewe announced that it has established its own OLED TV assembly line, at its headquarters in Kronach, Germany. The new facility is said to be based on a 'radically designed' production process, and it is staffed by around 200 employees. The line will begin full-scale production by the end of May.

Loewe revealed that it is buying 'open-cell' WOLED panels from LG Display - and this is the first production line in Europe that can work with such panels (as opposed to complete OLED modules used in all other EU-based lines). Working with open-cell panels enables Loewe to have more control over the process and the design of its premium TVs.

LG Display announced that it has developed world's first OLED gaming monitor panel with a switchable refresh rate and resolution. The company already mass producing this panel and will now aim to accelerate its market adoption and expects the first product to use this panel to arrive soon from LG Electronics, and other global gaming brands.

The new panel is 31.5" in size, and allows users to choose between two modes - high refresh rate more (480Hz and FHD) and high resolution mode (4K, 240Hz). The high refresh mode is aimed towards games in which speed is particularly important, such as first-person shooter (FPS) or racing games. The higher-resolution mode is more suitable for watching movies or 4K content. 

Sony announced its 2024 TV lineup, and interestingly, the top model (the Bravia 9) is a Mini-LED backlit QLED TV. The entry-level model (the Bravia 7) is also a QLED display, while the mid-range model, the Bravia 8, is based on LGD's WOLED panels.

The Bravia 8 offers 55-, 65- and 77 inch 4K WOLED panels, Sony's OLED Acoustic Surface Audio+ sound system, an upgraded XR Processor, and the creator calibration picture settings. Sony's 2024 TVs will launch in the summer of 2024.

According to a new report in Korea, LG Display aims to increase its OLED TV panel shipments to Samsung Electronics in 2024, and to reach almost 1 million units. 

Samsung has recently signed a five-year OLED TV panel supply agreement with LG Display, as the two Korean companies are increasing their collaboration to fend off competition from China. 

In 2019 Samsung Display announced its decision to invest $10.85 billion in QD-OLED TV R&D and production lines. A few years later, SDC started to produce panels in its first fab, mass producing TV and monitor QD-OLEDs. The company attracted several customers (Sony and Samsung Electronics for TV panels, and several companies for its monitors), and these displays have been very well received by the market.

Since 2022, Samsung has increased its production yields, and increased its production capacity, and today it produces around 40,000 substrates a month in its 8.5-Gen production line. Reviews of QD-OLED gaming monitors and TVs are very positive, with many analysts seeing QD-OLED as improving over LGD's WOLED panels in terms of image quality. 

But the reality at Samsung Display's QD-OLED division, is likely not so rosy. It seems that the technology is facing both market challenges and technology challenges - which may lead to a decision by Samsung to abandon it altogether. 

A report from Korea suggests that SDC has transferred around 500 of its engineers from its large-area OLED development division, or about 30% of them, to its divisions that focus on small and medium-sized AMOLED development.

Samsung tri-folding AMOLED prototype

According to the report, the main reason for SDC's change of priorities is due to the need to remain competitive with Chinese-based OLED makers that are offering OLED panels at low costs. Samsung estimates that it is ahead of its Chinese competitors by only a year or a year and half, and it is just a matter of time until Chinese companies catch up with South Korea makers (SDC and LGD).

According to UBI Research, the OLED tablet panel market is set to grow quickly, more than doubling between 2024 (12 million units expected) to 2028 (28.4 million). That's a CAGR of 24.1%.

UBI says that the market in 2023 was only 1.8 million panels - so growth in 2024 will be dramatic (almost 7X), mostly thanks to Apple's adoption of OLEDs in some of its iPad modules (expected to be announced next month). Samsung will produce 11" panels for Apple, while LGD will produce larger 12.9" panels. 

Omdia released its small and medium (9-inch and lower) AMOLED market share information for 2023, saying that even though Samsung's market share was lower than 50% for the first time, it stills leads the market by a large margin, with a 43% market share. 

Samsung is followed by BOE (15%), LG Display (10%), Visionox (9%) and Tianma (8%). The total market reached 842 million units, a growth of 11% over 2022. Omdia says that the China-based OLED makers have been expanding their capacity and improving the quality of the produced panels, and are securing orders from domestic smartphone brands.