Demand Growth for AMOLED Smartphone Panels ‘Much Slower’ Than Expected

The growth rate in shipments of active-matrix OLED panels for smartphones will be “much slower” than previously expected, said IHS Markit in a Monday report. With the help of the iPhone X, shipments of film-based, flexible AMOLED panels for smartphones more than tripled in 2017 to 125 million units, from 40 million in 2016, and panels were expected to see continued strong growth in 2018, said IHS: “However, sales of the iPhone X have not met market expectations, mainly because of the $1,000-plus price tag.” Weaker-than-expected demand for the iPhone X “has made smartphone brands revisit their AMOLED panel purchasing plans,” said IHS. Shipments of flexible AMOLED panels for smartphones are now expected to reach 167 million units in 2018, up 34 percent from 2017, “much slower than the expected almost double growth,” said IHS.