Demand for larger mobile OLED displays, for laptops, tablets and monitors is on the rise, and OLED makers (Led by Samsung Display) are planning to establish 8.5-Gen OLED production fabs dedicated for IT panels. The leading maker is
DSCC posted a very interesting article with predictions on this new development in the industry, saying that there are currently 11 different 15K G8.5/G8.6 IT OLED lines under development.
The main target application for these new IT fabs will be laptop displays. This is a large market (280 million laptops estimated in 2021) with a very small OLED penetration (about 6 million panels in 2021, about 2% of the market) - so much room for growth. The main current obstacle is the limited capacity - and the lower power consumption of OLEDs compared to LCDs, which is a surprise, especially as many windows applications, including office, are adopting dark modes.
Most of the obstacles, according to DSCC, will be overcome in the next few years. DSCC estimates about 10 new fabs that will being mass production by 2026, which could produce 91 million 16.2" panels per year at 80% yields (which is a large panel size, I would estimate there will be much demand for smaller panels too).
The new IT OLED capacity will not be used for laptops only, though: there will be applications in computer monitors, tablets, foldable laptops and more.
