Mobile phone OLED panels ebb and flow: Who takes the share of Samsung Display and LGD?

[Ding Technology Network Observation] After Korean giants Samsung and LG took the initiative to withdraw from large-size LCD panel production lines, OLED has become an important area of development. Especially in the field of small and medium-sized OLED panels, the advantages of Samsung Display (SDC) and LG Display (LGD) were once unshakable. However, with the collective efforts of Chinese panel brand companies, SDC's lead is now significantly reduced, while LGD has been successfully surpassed by Chinese companies.

The latest report from market research firm Stone Partners confirms this trend. According to the agency’s third-quarter research report, mobile OLED panel shipments in the third quarter were 137.2 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 18.6%. In the declining market, Korean giants SDC and LGD both experienced a decline in share, while the share of major Chinese panel companies bucked the trend and increased.

In the third quarter, SDC's mobile OLED shipments were 86.3 million pieces, with a market share of 62.9%, a significant decrease from 124 million pieces and 73.8% in the same period of 2021. From observation, SDC's shipments and market share have been declining since 2022, reaching a new low in the third quarter. However, despite the continuous decline in shipments, SDC still ranks first in the world, and other companies are still unable to shake it in a short period of time.

LGD shipped 7.3 million mobile OLED units in the third quarter, with a market share of 5.3%; in the same period of 2021, it shipped 10.2 million units, with a market share of 6.1%, which also saw a considerable decline. Due to sluggish shipments, LGD's global third position was also surpassed by the Chinese brand Visionox (002387), and its shipment share in the third quarter ranked fourth in the world.

"Ding Technology Network" noticed that unlike SDC and LGD, which both declined, Chinese panel companies still maintained a growth trend. Specifically:

As China's leading panel company, BOE's mobile OLED panel shipments reached 21 million units in the third quarter, an increase of 4.3 million units from the same period in 2021. Its market share also increased significantly from 9.9% in the third quarter of 2021 to 15.3%, and its shipment share ranked second in the world.

Visino overtook LGD and ranked third in the world. In the third quarter, its mobile OLED panel shipments were 10 million units, compared with 6.3 million units in the same period last year, a significant increase. In addition, its market share also increased from 3.8% in the third quarter of 2021 to 7.3% in 2021, almost doubling. As a result, Visionox has successfully overtaken LGD in terms of shipments and market share, ranking among the top three.

In addition, the market share rankings 5-7 are all Chinese companies: Hehui Optoelectronics ranks fifth with a 4.0% share, CSOT ranks sixth with a 3.2% share, and Tianma ranks seventh with a 2.1% share. It is worth noting that in the third quarter of this year, the market shares of Hehui Optoelectronics, CSOT, and Tianma all increased compared with the previous quarter and the same period last year.

In summary, it is not difficult to see that in the mobile OLED panel market, although the overall share of Korean brands is still leading, the overall trend is continuing to decline. Samsung Display’s market share is about to fall below 60%, while LGD’s market share is likely to shrink to less than 5%. In the future, the Chinese and Korean camps in the mobile OLED panel market may see a competitive pattern in which each takes half of the market. Chinese panel companies represented by BOE and Visionox are expected to continue to outpace shipments.

Take BOE as an example. BOE’s annual flexible OLED shipments are expected to reach 80 million pieces in 2022, and are rapidly moving towards the 100 million-level shipment target. As the first domestic enterprise to enter the flexible OLED field, BOE has invested nearly 140 billion yuan to build China's first flexible OLED industrial cluster in southwest China, including three world-leading flexible AMOLED production lines in Chengdu, Mianyang, and Chongqing. The overall flexible OLED production capacity accounts for nearly 30% of the global production capacity. Among them, the Chengdu 6th generation flexible AMOLED production line is China's first flexible AMOLED display production line.

Compared with BOE’s extensive layout, Visionox focuses on the field of OLED panels. Public information shows that the company has three large-scale AMOLED mass production lines. The Kunshan 5.5-generation AMOLED production line and the Gu'an 6-generation flexible AMOLED production line have been mass-produced and supplied. The Hefei 6-generation flexible AMOLED production line has been put into production, further expanding flexible AMOLED production capacity.

It is foreseeable that in the field of mobile OLED panels, Chinese companies are expected to copy their successful experience in the field of liquid crystal displays. With technological breakthroughs, production capacity and cost advantages, as well as China's strong upstream and downstream resources, they will eventually surpass Korean brands as a whole.