Market updates - Page 2

UBI Research estimates that 12 million OLED tablet panels will ship in 2024, and increase of over 500% from 2023 (1.84 million units), following Apple's adoption of OLEDs in its iPad Pro devices for the first time.

UBI sees the tablet OLED display market continuing to grow, and is expected to reach 30 million units in 2028. The current market leaders are Samsung Display and LG Display, but other display makers are also targeting this market, with BOE aiming to ship 1.5 million OLED tablet panels in 2024, and Visionox around 800,000 units.

UBI Research says that shipments of foldable OLED smartphone panels more than doubled in Q2 2024 (compared to the first quarter), reaching 9.94 million units. Foldable OLED smartphone panels accounted for 5.2% of the total OLED smartphone display market.

UBI expects foldable OLED panel shipments to continue growing in the second half of 2024, and sees total 2024 shipments exceeding 40 million. By 2028, the company expects foldable OLED panels to reach an almost 10% out of the entire OLED smartphone market.

According to reports, Meta has decided to cancel one of its VR projects that was planned for 2027. This device was to be a high-end product, similar to Apple's Vision Pro - with a similar high price tag. Following the poor market reaction for Apple's Vision Pro, Meta decided to scrap the project.

The original Oculus Rift

Meta was planning to use OLED microdisplays in its upcoming high-end headset, as these are the best performing displays for such products. It is reported that one of the reasons that Meta is not proceeding with its project is the high price of the OLEDs. These are expensive displays indeed - according to some estimates, Apple is paying $350 for each display, which means around $700 for each headset. On the other hand, it is estimated that OLED microdisplay prices are set to drop sharply in the near future as new capacity comes online, and new players (including Samsung and LGD) start producing displays. 

According to DSCC, OLED panel shipments increased 50% in the second quarter of 2024, compared to the second quarter of 2023. Compared to the previous quarter, shipments increased 13%. 

DSCC says that OLED tablet shipments increased 356% in the quarter compared to last year (led by Apple's adoption of AMOLEDs in its iPad Pro devices). OLED smartphone spanel shipments also 49%, while OLED TV panel shipments increased 30% from 2023.

DSCC says that shipments of foldable OLED panels reached a record high in the second quarter of 2024 at 9.8 million units - 126% higher than Q2 2023 (and 151% higher than the previous quarter). DSCC believes this will be the peak quarter in 2024, as the demand was fueled by the launch of Samsung's latest foldables, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6.

Samsung holds an almost 50% market share in foldable smartphone panels orders, followed by Huawei at 29%. Timing is relevant, as high demand follows new model shipping dates. DSCC estimates that clamshell devices have a 63% market share out of the total foldable smartphone market, with the rest taken up by in-folding devices.

According to DSCC, 4.1 million OLED tablet panels shipped in the second quarter of 2024, a new record high, as Apple launched its 2024 OLED iPad Pro tablets. Apple quickly became the largest buyer of OLED tab let panels - with a 72% market share in Q2 2024 (followed by Huawei at 13% and Samsung at 9%).

DSCC expects the OLED tablet panel market to fall 5% in the next quarter to 3.9 million panels (but up 169% over Q3 2023), as Apple reduces its orders dramatically after the launch, but this will be almost offset by new panels shipments to Microsoft and Honor. Growth will continue in Q4, and total panel shipments are expected to each over 14 million units in 2024, over 200% growth from 2023.

According to Omdia, the price of OLED microdisplays is expected to drop rapidly in the next few years, as production capacity grows, new OLED producers join the industry,  and as wafers sizes increases as well which improves production efficiency. 

Interestingly Omdia acknowledges that new technologies are set to improve the performance of OLED microdispalys - such as tandem architectures, direct emission, and more. These technologies will increase the cost of production, and it's not clear whether Omdia takes that into account in their estimates above, or whether they assume 

Korea's The Elec reports that Apple is planning to release an OLED iPad Air device in 2016. The leading display producer will be Samsung Display.

According to the report, the iPad Air AMOLED will be a single-stack LTPS AMOLED device, unlike the tandem OLEDs used in the 2024 iPad Pro devices. The report also suggests that the same AMOLED displays may also be used in the 2026 iPad Mini devices - as Apple aims to adopt OLEDs in all of its iPad devices in the future. But Apple hasn't fully decided on its iPad Mini OLED adoption roadmap yet.

DSCC says that display makers are increasing their OLED CapEx investment as demand for OLED displays is on the rise. DSCC has raised its forecast for OLED spending by 14% compared to their previous update, while they retain their previous forecast for LCD, OLED microdisplay and microLED display equipment spending. 

Between 2020 and 2027, OLED display makers will invest $44 billion in new production equipment. The spending on OLED equipment will keep growing year after year from 2023 to 2027, reaching $6.5 billion in 2027, as OLED penetration in the smartphone, tablet and laptop market is increasing, and fab utilization is increasing too, encouraging display makers to add capacity.

According to reports, Apple has cut its total 2024 OLED iPad Pro panel orders from Samsung and LG to around 7-8 million units, down from its planned 9-10 million units, as the demand for Apple's new iPads is not as high as expected.

Apple has also increased LG Display's order share, at the expense of Samsung Display. The company asked LGD to produce about a million more 11" panels compared to its previous orders.