AMOLED Penetration of Smartphone Market to Reach 50% by 2020, Says Report

Mainstream penetration of AMOLED displays in the global smartphone market will reach 50 percent by 2020, said a TrendForce report Monday. Confirmation of Samsung Display Co. (SDC) as an Apple AMOLED panel supplier for upcoming iPhones “has spurred other smartphone brands and panel makers to aggressively invest” in AMOLED, it said. SDC has been actively pursuing other sources of demand besides Samsung to expand its AMOLED presence, said TrendForce. “The reveal of the next iPhone’s specifications has accelerated the deployment of AMOLED displays for other smartphone brands,” including Chinese panel makers, said analyst Boyce Fan. BOE Technology and Tianma’s altered fab plans, “turning newly built facilities initially reserved for LTPS panel production into AMOLED panel fabs,” and the two are expected to begin trial production in the second half, Fan said. Other Chinese panel makers likely will build more AMOLED panel fabs in the near term, buoyed by government support and a well-capitalized domestic market, but AMOLED manufacturing has challenging technological barriers, said Fan. Suppliers must improve on complicated manufacturing processes such as deposition of the organic layer and encapsulation, he said. SDC has dominated the market for small-size AMOLED displays, but some smartphone makers have been wary of committing to a single supplier and are encouraging competing display makers to “catch up,” said Fan. LG Display will begin mass production of flexible AMOLED panels at a generation-six fab in second half 2017 for “non-Apple customers,” he said.