In the Chinese display industry, leading companies BOE and TCL CSOT are ramping up their investments in Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) panels, a domain traditionally dominated by Korean firms, especially in the sectors of laptops and tablets. The move has raised alarms in the industry.
On Dec. 17, it was reported that CSOT, a display subsidiary of Chinese TV manufacturer TCL, plans to start mass production of inkjet-printed OLED panels in the second half of next year. Zhao Jun, co-CEO of TCL Technology and CEO of CSOT, announced at the 2023 TCL CSOT Global Display Eco-Conference (DTC2023) held in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 7, that these OLED panels, initially expected for TVs, will be produced for tablets, laptops, and other IT devices.
Inkjet printing, a method akin to printers where organic materials are sprayed, is a technology used to manufacture panels. It is considered a secret weapon of Japan’s JOLED, which is trying to outpace Korea in the OLED sector. JOLED, which filed for bankruptcy in March this year, was initially a joint venture between Sony and Panasonic, launched in January 2015. CSOT, which has focused on LCDs, identified OLED as its future growth area in 2019 and began investing in JOLED from 2020, eventually acquiring its inkjet printing facilities.
BOE, the top player in China’s display industry, also revealed plans last month to invest 63 billion yuan (US$8.9 billion) in constructing an 8.6-generation OLED production line in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. This investment is nearly three times the 4.1 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) announced by Samsung Display in April for its own 8.6-generation OLED factory.
The industry expects IT OLEDs to lead the sector next year, as OLED shipments for smartphones and TVs peaked in 2021 but have since declined due to weak demand. The IT OLED market is estimated to be about five times larger than the smartphone OLED market.
Apple’s decision to start using OLEDs in tablets next year and in MacBooks from 2025 has further heightened expectations for an expansion of the OLED market beyond smartphones to laptops and monitors. This shift has led BOE and CSOT to challenge the medium-sized OLED market, which Korean companies have previously dominated.
An industry insider noted that while LCDs have standardized processes over a long period, OLEDs, using self-emitting organic materials, have varied production processes by company and size, making it a challenging sector for China to catch up in. However, with significant government subsidies, China could eventually follow the path of LCDs, prompting the need for Korean companies to accelerate research and development.