Growth Despite Recession
Despite a global recession, the market for automotive organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is demonstrating considerable growth, intensifying the rivalry between Samsung Display and LG Display.
LG Display has previously dominated the market, but Samsung Display is swiftly catching up, securing a series of global brand-oriented clients such as Ferrari and BMW.
According to industry sources on Aug. 1, market research firm Omdia has recently revised its forecast of global automotive OLED display panel shipments for this year from the initial 890,000 units to 1.14 million, and now further expects to adjust it to 1.48 million units. It is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 45% over the next five years, breaking through 5 million units in 2026 and 9 million units in 2027.
The size of the automotive display market is expected to grow from US$8.6 billion last year to US$9.37 billion this year. Among these, automotive OLEDs are expected to grow more than fourfold from US$480 million this year to US$2.17 billion by 2027.
For automotive displays, durability to withstand various external conditions such as extreme temperatures is crucial, as it directly links to user safety. Cooperation and trust with clients is also vital. Particularly for OLEDs, the technology gap with domestic and Chinese companies is a minimum of 2 years, which still indicates a substantial gap with China.
Currently, the automotive OLED market is being split between LG and Samsung. According to Omdia, last year’s automotive OLED market share was 50% for LG Display, 42.7% for Samsung Display, and 7.3% for China's BOE. Samsung and LG have been fiercely competing for orders, including supplying OLED panels to Hyundai Genesis.
LG Display, which began mass production of automotive OLEDs for the first time in the industry in 2019, once held an unrivaled position with over 90% market share. In 2021, LG Display had 91.3% and Samsung Display had 8.7%, but Samsung significantly increased its share to 42.7% last year by successfully diversifying its clients.
Samsung Display appears to have boosted its market share by securing global automakers such as Hyundai, Ferrari, BMW, and Audi as clients. Samsung Display will also participate for the first time in the “IAA Mobility” International Motor Show in Munich, Germany next month, focusing on expanding its client base.
LG Display also has high expectations for the automotive display market. During a recent second-quarter earnings conference call, LG Display stated, “We have recorded 4 trillion won in automotive display orders focused on OLEDs and large LCD panels, and our order targets for the next two years are continuously increasing.”