Chinese Panel Suppliers Rise, OLED Screens Go Mainstream in Smartphone Market

Chinese Panel Suppliers Rise, OLED Screens Go Mainstream in Smartphone MarketAccording to a report released Wednesday by market research firm TechInsights, OLED panels, once considered a premium feature for smartphones, are now prevalent across all price ranges, replacing LCD panels market share. One of the key drivers of this trend is the emergence and expansion of Chinese OLED panel suppliers

Chinese Panel Suppliers Rise, OLED Screens Go Mainstream in Smartphone Market

According to a report released Wednesday by market research firm TechInsights, OLED panels, once considered a premium feature for smartphones, are now prevalent across all price ranges, replacing LCD panels market share. One of the key drivers of this trend is the emergence and expansion of Chinese OLED panel suppliers. They have driven OLED panel penetration in the supply chain by increasing supply and offering competitive display panel pricing. The firm states that Chinese OLED panel suppliers now account for over 45% of the market.

The smartphone display market has seen significant shifts, with Chinese domestic panel suppliers engaging in fierce competition with their South Korean counterparts. In the first half of 2024, Samsung Display led the market with over 50% share of smartphone displays, followed by BOE Technology and LG Display. Other display suppliers, including TCL Huaxing, Tianma Microelectronics, and Visionox, also saw double-digit shipment growth during this period, supplying flexible OLED panels for high-volume smartphones and foldable smartphones from brands like OPPO, Xiaomi, vivo, Motorola, and Honor.

According to previous reports from IT Home, last month, CINNOResearch noted that as domestic flexible OLED production continues to ramp up and penetrate lower-tier product markets, global flexible OLED panel shipments are expanding. In the second quarter of 2024, global flexible OLED (including foldable) smartphone panel shipments reached approximately 160 million units, representing a significant year-on-year increase of 39.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 17.5%. This marks a double-digit growth in both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter terms. Flexible OLED panels accounted for 72.2% of OLED smartphone panel shipments, down 7.9 percentage points year-on-year but up 2.7 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.

The rise of Chinese panel suppliers has had a profound impact on the smartphone market. On the one hand, it has driven down OLED panel prices, making the clearer, more vibrant visual experience offered by OLED screens accessible to a wider range of consumers. On the other hand, it has intensified competition in the smartphone display market, pushing panel suppliers to continuously improve their technological capabilities and product quality, ultimately benefiting consumers with better product offerings.

As Chinese panel suppliers continue to increase production capacity and enhance their technological capabilities, the penetration of OLED panels in the smartphone market is expected to continue rising. Moreover, Chinese panel suppliers will play a more prominent role in the global display panel supply chain, delivering higher-quality and more affordable display products to consumers worldwide.