AMOLED units overrun OLED display line

Output based on the active-matrix technology has surged and will be on steady rise as China makers match the trend in terminal products.

AMOLED continues its steady advance in China's OLED display sector, further eclipsing the passive-matrix category. Makers have been boosting production by 10 percent in recent years and will do so at the same rate in the months ahead in anticipation of greater demand. Others such as DLC Display Co. Ltd are maintaining a higher target of 20 percent, encouraged by the previous year's performance. As a result, AMOLED's share of local output approached 80 percent in 2015, upsetting the earlier projection of 50 percent. By end-2016, it is expected to exceed 80 percent.

In R&D, AMOLED displays have also dominated suppliers' attention. Following the lead of LG Display and Samsung Display, China companies endeavor to offer more bendable units. A fairly new player, Royole ventured straight into flexible types in 2012 and released in 2014 the world's thinnest model, which boasts a 0.01mm profile and 1mm bending radius. In 2015, it started mass manufacture with a monthly capacity of 1 million units.

China companies are also eyeing next-generation flexible AMOLED displays, particularly foldable and rollable variants. But so far, only foreign makers, including Samsung Display and LG Display, have announced plans to release such variants in the next several years.

Drumming up interest in the line is the significant rise in demand in the past two years, which is forecast to maintain momentum. From $8.7 billion in 2014, the global OLED market will climb to $29.1 billion in 2022, according to statistics from IHS. LG Display will invest in the construction of the world's largest OLED display production base, targeting completion by 2018.

In the flexible display sector, the technology will have the highest growth rate, securing a share exceeding 90 percent of the $567 million estimated sales by 2020, said Displaybank. Wearable devices, mobile electronics and large-screen TVs will be the key drivers of this development, which can very well effect the shift from TFT LCDs.

From about 100 OLED display suppliers in 2014, there are up to 200 now in China. The number is anticipated to still increase amid the boom in the line.

The major local players include BOE, Visionox, Tianma, Shanwei Truly, China Starand Everdisplay. International suppliers such as LG Display and Samsung Display have factories in China as well.

The main production base is still in the coastal area, specifically in the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong. More than half of the makers gather in Dongguan and Shenzhen in the last.

See a comparison table of OLED display suppliers on GlobalSources.com