Shipment of 10-inch or larger OLED panels exceed 10 million units

Shipment of OLED panels 10-inch or larger exceeded 10 million units for the first time during the first half of 2021, according to UBI Research.

This was thanks to high sales of tablets and TVs that use OLED panels, the analyst firm said.

According to UBI Research, shipment of OLED panels 10-inch or larger used in tablets, notebooks, monitors and TVs reached 10.29 million units during the first half of the year.

In terms of sales, these panels accumulated US$2.95 billion during the first half of 2021, around 2.4 times the US$1.221 billion recorded the same time a year ago.

Samsung Display was turning its A2 rigid OLED line from a smartphone panel line to one that manufactures IT OLED panels, UBI Research said.

The South Korean display panel maker will run the A2 line at 40,000 to 50,000 Gen 6 (1500x1850mm) substrates per month in production capacity starting in the second half of the year, the firm said, and it will manufacture IT OLED panels.

Samsung Display is also expected to manufacture OLED panels for Apple’s iPads near the end of the year, UBI Research noted.

This will allow the IT OLED market to have explosive growth in 2022, the firm said.

Samsung Display was accelerating its spending plan for a Gen 8.5 (2200x2500mm) IT OLED line, UBI Research said.

LG Display also recently finalized a plan to build a Gen 6 IT OLED line at Paju, it added.

Out of the total OLED shipment during the first half of the year, 3.4 million units were those for TVs, UBI Research said.

This could increase further during the second half of the year from Black Friday near the end of the year, it said.

Meanwhile, shipment of OLED panels smaller than 10-inch during the first half of the year was 333.5 million units, according to the research firm.

In terms of sales, it was US$20.5 billion. These panels are used in smartphones and smartwatches. It was also an increase of 62% from sales of US$12.7 billion during the same time period last year.