Market updates

In July 2023, Samsung officially launched the 83" 83S90C, the company's first TV to use LG's WOLED panels, following several years of negotiations and hesitation by the Korean rivals.

It was assumed that Samsung's total orders from LGD will be limited (as the 83-inch are expensive and not highly popular), and according to UBI, the total number of panels that LGD actually shipped to Samsung is only 'several thousands'.

DSCC reports that according to its information, OLED panel shipments in Q3 2023 increased 14% from last year (and 18% from the previous quarter) to reach 205 million units. There are positive signs that inventory has started to rebalance for some categories.

OLED smartphone shipments increased 12% over last quarter (and 25% from last year), while OLED TV shipments continue to be soft, and dropped 14% from last quarter and 40% (!) from last year.

According to reports, Samsung Electronics is working on a new VR headset that it plans to release in the second half of 2024.

The new headset will be based on OLED microdisplays, apparently produced by Samsung Display. The reports suggest the the microdisplays will be similar to the 1.41" 4K Sony OLED microdisplays used by Apple in its Vision Pro headset.

BOE has been trying to be accepted into Apple's supply chain for their latest iPhone devices for many years, but has so far succeeded only in getting small orders for aftermarket panels. In March it was reported that BOE is developing panels for Apple, but in September it was reported that Apple decided to cancel all of its panned orders for BOE's iPhone 15 display OLED panels due to technical issues, and has moved all these orders to Samsung Display.

Now it is reported in Korean media that BOE has been finally approved, and the Chinese-based OLED maker will supply 2 million panels for Apple - or only about 3% of its total OLED supply in 2023. Obviously BOE hopes to gain more orders in 2024.

We are excited to pre-announce a new OLED-Info product, a comprehensive information resource for the OLED Industry which will combine multiple existing OLED-Info products into one with various exciting additions. 

The new product will be launched in early 2024 to form a must-have information platform for companies in the display industry, and will include five different parts:

• An information guide to OLED technologies, processes, the industry and the market
• Market status and industry roadmaps
• OLED technology, market and industry analysis and insights - written by Ron Mertens based on years of experience in the display industry 
• Structured data (spreadsheets) on OLED production lines, devices with OLED displays, OLED producers, supply chain companies (with contact details) and more
• In-depth articles by multiple industry experts illuminating various processes, materials, devices, analysis, insights and more
• Brochures, presentations, catalogs and other content items contributed by industry players (display makers, supply chain companies, analysts and more)

  
The new product is progressing well, and it's now time to reach out to the industry, inviting OLED supply chain companies and OLED developers to provide their own brochures, presentations, catalogs and any other content items - including an email address for potential customers and partners. We believe this will be a good opportunity to expose your technology to the OLED industry at large and to help us educate and inform OLED and display professionals. Contact us for more details.

Samsung Electronics reported its financial results for Q3 2023, with revenues of $50 billion, down 12% from last year, and an operating profit of $1.78 billion - down 78% than last year, but an increase over the previous two quarters. Samsung says that there are still macroeconomic uncertainties, but it sees a recovery in the memory  market in 2024.

Samsung Display reports strong performance in the mobile panel business, as there's good demand for premium OLED smartphone panels panels, and it expects this to be maintained in the near future. The company also hope to expand its large-area QD-OLED panel sales, led by seasonal demand.

China-based AMOLED producer Everdisplay (EDO) reported its financial results for Q3  2023. Net loss increased to 1.1 billion Yuan ($150 million USD), and total loss in 2023 so far was 2.39 billion Yuan (around $325 million USD). 

The company says that the increased loss and drop in revenues were due to the global economic recession and weak demand in the consumer electronics market. The industry is facing a fierce price competition with radical price drops by AMOLED makers causing revenues and losses to decline.

Omdia says that the large-area FPD TV market (OLED and LCD) suffered from low demand in early 2023, but improved in Q3 2023. LCD TV prices increased, and companies were profitable again. However Omdia estimates that demand will soften again, and the market will suffer from over supply in Q4 2023 and the first half of 2024.

Omdia says that a supply/demand ratio of 10% represents a balanced market. This won't be achieved in the near future. Since the pandemic supply shortages, there's currently enough factory capacity to meet demand, and then some. The growth in demand enabled display makers to increase fab utilization from around 60% in early 2023 to around 85% in July 2023. However, fab utilization is expected to decline to around 75% in Q4 2023.

BOE hosted an event to mark the launch of its new X1 AMOLED screen, together with OnePlus, who will adopt the new display in its upcoming OnePlus 12 smartphone. BOE also announced, during the event, that it has produced over 100 million AMOLED displays already in 2023.

The OnePlus 12 will features a 2K (3168x1440) display that will offer a peak brightness of 2600 nits. The smartphone will also sport the company's own Oppo P1 display chip that features high-precision pixel calibration algorithms that ensure high brightness, high image quality - reduced power consumption (by 13%, according to OnePlus). The display is based on BOE's new-generation of LTPO backplane, that the company says offer stable high and low frequency switching and increase image performance, while reducing power consumption compared to its previous LTPO platform.

DSCC shared their estimation about display fab utilization (LCD and OLEDs), with some interesting comments. The slowdown in the industry, according to DSCC, is effecting all display makers, but the slowdown in demand for OLEDs is more severe and persistent. The industry is starting to recover, but this is a bumpy ride as the total capacity still far outstrips demand, and DSCC sees a slowdown in Q4 2023.

DSCC says that the slowdown for large-screen displays bottomed out towards the end of 2022, the slowdown in mobile devices only hit bottom in early 2023. There is still a weak demand for rigid OLEDs, mostly because of the lower demand for smartphones - but also because China-based flexible OLED makers are lowering prices to make them more competitive with glass-based OLEDs.