Automotive OLEDs: introduction and industry news

Last year Audi unveiled its upcoming 2024 Q6 e-tron car, with the 2nd-generation OLEDWorks digital lighting solution. Now OLEDWorks formally launched its Atala digital OLED 2.0 technology, which is now available for automotive producers and Tier-1 suppliers.

By digital OLED technology, OLEDWorks means that these are taillights in which each segment (there could be 10 to 128 segments in each module) is controlled individually, making it into a simple display system. The company says that digital OLED 2.0 delivers unparalleled functionality and performance. The second generation solution offers more panel options and higher level of integration and features.

Samsung Display announced today a strategic partnership with Dolby Laboratories, to offer SDC's automotive displays which are pre-tuned to deliver Dolby Vision to automotive makers. 

Samsungs says that by implementing a new streamlined evaluation and implementation process it will be able to offer best-in-class imaging experiences  for automotive displays. 

UBI Research says that Samsung Display's medium and large OLED panel shipments in Q3 2024 were the same as in the previous quarter. Shipments of tablet OLED devices were low, but this was offset by increased sales of automotive displays. Compared to 2023, total medium and large OLED panel shipments more than doubled, mainly due to increased sales of tablet panels to Apple, and increased laptop OLED shipments.

UBI estimates that SDC's tablet PC sales decreased by 38% compared to the previous quarter. Automotive OLED shipments rose from 100,000 units in Q1 2024 to around 500,000 in Q3. 

UBI Research estimates that Apple suffers from poor demand for its iPad Pro devices, and the company has reduced its orders from LG Display and Samsung Display. We heard signs of that already back in August.

UBI estimates that LG Display's medium to large sized OLED panels shipments decreased 34% in Q3 2024, compared to the previous quarter. Samsung Display's tablet OLED panel sales dropped 38% in the quarter. Samsung however enjoyed higher sales of automotive OLEDs, which means that its entire medium-to-large sales were flat in the quarter.

Japan Display announced a new strategic partnership with Taiwan-based Innolux and CarUX (Innolux's automotive display company) to bring eLEAP OLED displays to the automotive market. 

The three companies did not disclose a lot of details, but it seems as in this partnership JDI will produce the eLEAP OLED displays while CarUX will market and sell these displays to its automotive customers. The first display that JDI will produce will be a 32" 1,000 nits 6460x880 (205 PPI) AMOLED display on an HMO (high-mobility oxide) backplane.

Omdia released its latest OLED market forecasts, and the company says the small/medium (1-inch to 8-inch) OLED shipments will surpass one billion for the first time in 2025. 

In the smartphone market, Omdia says that there has been significant growth, mainly driven by Chinese OLED producers (BOE, CSoT, Visionox, Tianma and Everdisplay). In addition to the growth in smartphone displays, OLED are expanding into new applications, including AR/VR and automotive displays.

China-based Yeolight is making excellent inroads into the local automotive market in China. Several new car models launched lately, using the company's OLED taillight solutions.

First up we have the Nissan N7, this is a China-bound EV mid-size sedan that will be produced by Nissan for the Chinese market through the Dongfeng Nissan joint venture.

LG Electronics introduced a new showcase for its automotive display technologies, the Digital Cockpit gamma. This concept demonstrator is equipped with LG’s most sophisticated vehicle technologies and features three modular solutions: the Vision Display, Intelligent Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and Connectivity & Content.

The Vision Display concept utilizes LGD's latest OLED displays to "adapt seamlessly to dynamic environments". As part of this concept, LGD includes a 12.3" transparent OLED display, and a 14.2" rollable flexible OLED that can be retracted when not in use.

Lotus launched its 2025 Eletre R electric SUV, that has a 15.1" 2560x1600 750 nits AMOLED display, produced by Everdisplay (EDO). The display is the car's center multimedia display.

The Eletre R offers a 905hp electric engine, that can accelerate from 0-100Kmh in 2,95 seconds. The car has a range of 400-450 Km.

In this article, we examine the theoretical question of whether or not it makes sense for LG Display and Samsung Display to merge, into one company.

Note that we have no indications that such a merger is even considered by the two companies, but we feel this is a fascinating topic that should be explored, and is supported by several strong arguments.

We'll start with a short introduction to the two companies, then see why there are many reasons to pursue a merger, then explain the reasons against a possible merger, and finally detail the current financial situations of both companies.

Samsung Display and LG Display

Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. SDC is a leader in OLED production, with a market share of over 40% in the small OLED display market (the second largest player, BOE, holds a market share of around 15%). SDC produces over 300 million AMOLED displays per year - supplying them to Apple's iPhones and tablets, Samsung Electronics Galaxy phones, and many more. The Company also produces larger-area QD-OLED panels for TVs and gaming monitors, and has a capacity of producing around a million TV panels per year. SDC no longer produces any LCDs. SDC does produce microLED displays (but on a very small scale, this is currently a strictly next-gen display technology), and the company develops OLED microdisplays (and also holds OLED microdisplay producer eMagin which it acquired in 2023 for $243 million).