Expands Market Share to 21.8%
Chinese display maker BOE is rapidly penetrating the high-end organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel market.
Market research firm Stone Partners said on March 23 that BOE’s flexible OLED shipments are expected to hit 20.2 million units in the first quarter of this year, a 74 percent increase from 11.6 million units in the same period of 2021. BOE’s shipments have steadily increased every quarter since the first quarter of 2021.
BOE’s flexible OLED market share is expected to record 21.8 percent in the first quarter, an increase of 6.1 percentage points from 15.7 percent in the same period of 2021.
Samsung Display, which ranks first in this field, is also expected to ramp up its shipments. The company’s shipments in the first quarter of this year are 52.20 million units, a 17 percent increase compared to 44.50 million units in the same period of 2021.
However, Samsung Display’s market share is expected to shrink as BOE advances. It is expected to record 56.5 percent in the first quarter, down 3.8 percentage points from 60.3 percent a year ago. LG Display’s market share is also expected to slide from 16.7 percent to 10.1 percent during the same period.
When BOE entered the small and medium-sized OLED panel market, it chose a strategy to skip the current glass-based rigid OLED market and go straight to the flexible OLED market. At the end of 2020, Apple selected BOE as a supplier. BOE has been rapidly increasing its supply to Apple since 2021. Accordingly, it is in hot pursuit of first-ranked Samsung Display, which maintained a 70 percent market share in the fourth quarter of 2021.
However, BOE’s flexible OLED production yield is 70 percent to 80 percent, lower than Samsung Display's low 90 percent range. However, Chinese panel makers are expected to strengthen their R&D efforts and expand production capacity to overtake Korean companies.