According to the latest report, Samsung Display is expected to send out fewer OLED screens this year. The number of OLED screens the company’s going to ship is likely to be 10% less than last year. This drop is mainly because Samsung making fewer OLED screens for certain kinds of phones on a specific production line (rigid OLEDs being made on the 5.5 generation A2 production line).
Next year, it’s predicted that Samsung Display will send out about the same number of OLED screens for smartphones as they are doing this year.
A research company called Trend Force has said that Samsung Display is expected to send out about 350 million OLED screens for smartphones this year. That’s 10% less than the number Samsung sent out last year, which was 390 million. These OLED screens are used in phones made by Apple, Samsung Electronics, and other Chinese phone companies. Some of these screens are flexible, which means they’re made with a special material called polyimide (PI), and they’re more high-end than the rigid OLED screens made with glass.
Trend Force predicted that Samsung Display will be the only one of the top five smartphone panel shipment companies to see a decline in panel shipments this year due to a slowdown in rigid OLED demand. The smartphone panel volume calculated by Trend Force is the sum of both OLED and liquid crystal display (LCD). Samsung Display only produces OLED smartphone panels..
Samsung Display’s Rigid OLED is also used in Samsung Electronics’ mid- to low-priced smartphones, but the recent slump in Samsung Electronics’ smartphone sales and the expansion of LCD panel adoption are having a negative impact on Samsung Display’s Rigid OLED shipments. Samsung Display is exploring various ways to increase the operation rate of its 5.5th generation A2 line, which produces rigid OLED for smartphones. Currently, the A2 line produces rigid OLED for smartphones and rigid OLED for IT products such as tablets and laptops.
Trend Force predicted that global smartphone OLED/LCD panel shipments this year will reach 1.85 billion units, up 8.7% from the previous year. The main reasons for the increase in panel shipments this year are the increase in demand for refurbished and used phones, and the launch of new products.
Samsung Display, which only produces OLED smartphone panels, is expected to maintain second place this year (350 million units) and next year (350 million units) following last year (390 million units).