Chinese manufacturers of display panels have started investing significant sums into expanding their facilities dedicated to producing active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, latest data obtained by Digitimes Research suggests. Recent trends indicate that seven companies from China will have approximately 1.6 million square meters of AMOLED production capacity by 2018. For added context, Digitimes Research estimates that Chinese companies had around 272,000 square meters of production capacity in 2016, while that number is expected to increase to more than 7.8 million square meters by 2020, meaning industry watchers expect a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 132 percent over the next four years.
BOE Technology is predicted to become the largest Chinese manufacturer of AMOLED display panels by 2020 as the Beijing-based firm is expected to hold 35 percent of all yearly production capacity in the country by that time. That company will be followed by Tianma Micro-electronics who will own less than half of BOE Technology’s capacity, Digitimes Research predicts. Other major Chinese manufacturers of AMOLED display panels that are expected to record significant growth in the next four years include the likes of Visionox, EverDisplay Optronics, Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology, Royole, and Truly Opto-Electronics. The South Korean giants Samsung Display and LG Display currently boast an AMOLED production capacity of approximately 4.9 million square meters and are expected to triple their operations come 2020, industry experts claim. While their expansion efforts are expected to record lower CAGRs compared to their Chinese rivals, they’ll also primarily be focused on flexible AMOLED display panels as the demand for them is also expected to grow in the coming years.
Overall, it’s unlikely that any Chinese manufacturer of AMOLED panels will be able to rival the production capabilities of Samsung Display and LG Display in the near future. Regardless, panel makers in the Far Eastern country are still expected to generate a lot of profits in the coming years as recent reports suggest that local phone manufacturers are preparing to ditch Samsung Display in favor of Chinese companies. Regarding the short-term situation, Samsung and LG’s panel-making divisions will likely dominate the market over the course of 2017 seeing how EverDisplay Optronics and Truly Opto-Electronics are the only two Chinese companies currently capable of producing 1080p AMOLED panels.