No spending on large OLED panel expected in 2023

There will be no spending on equipment related to the production of large OLED panels used in TVs and monitors next year, analyst firm Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) said in its forecast.

Such panels are made by South Korean companies LG Display and Samsung Display.

DSCC said spending on equipment related to these panels was US$3 billion in 2019  but dropped every following year.

Spending on equipment was US$2.049 billion in 2020 and US$1.47 billion in 2021. This year, spending by companies on large OLED panel equipment is expected to mark US$1.42 billion.

While spending in 2023 will be zero, companies are expected to resume spending the following US$2.011 billion in 2024 and US$1.51 billion in 2025.

Spending on inkjet printing OLED equipment will take up 76% of the spending in 2024, while all spending in 2025 will be on inkjet printing OLED equipment.

Inkjet printing OLED is a technique China’s CSOT is planning to use for its T8 factory, so most of the spending is expected to be executed by the company.

LG Display, the world’s largest manufacturer of large OLED panels, is expected not to spend any equipment in 2023 and 2025, while it will spend US$492 million in 2024. The company manufactures white (W)-OLED panels.

Samsung Display meanwhile is not expected to spend any more on equipment to increase its large OLED production capacity from 2022 to 2025.

Instead, DSCC said Samsung Display is expected to simplify the backplane process for their quantum dot (QD)-OLED panels and reduce emission layers.

These will allow the company to increase its production capacity without installing more equipment.