The market for organic materials used to manufacture OLED display panels jumped during the second half of 2017, according to IHS Markit. Revenue was estimated to be $355 million in the second half of 2017, up 20% from the first half of the year. According to the report, in 2016 and the first half of 2017, the OLED materials market seemed saturated, posting revenues at almost the same level. However, the sudden spike in growth was observed in the second half of 2017. Jimmy Kim, PhD and senior principal analyst at IHS Markit, said:
“The growth of OLED materials demand has been offset by price reduction, resulting in market saturation until mid-2017. However, the launch of the iPhone X as well as the expansion of OLED panel manufacturing capacity boosted demand in the second half”.
The iPhone X, Apple’s first OLED smartphone, was launched in the third quarter of 2017 and brought huge, additional demand for OLED materials. At the same time, LG Display set up a new E4-2 fab for OLED TV panels. Kim continued:
“Apple is expected to apply OLED panels to more of its products and OLED TV is also one of the most emerging products in the TV market. Considering demand growth and current investment plans regarding OLED manufacturing capacities, the OLED materials market is expected to continue to grow until 2020, reaching $824 million by the second half of 2020″.
