What They Say
DSCC has put out a blog post with a range of data on OLED sales which had an incredibly strong result in Q4, driven by the Apple iPhone 12, which is all OLED for the first time. The Samsung S21 launch will also be earlier, so volume started in November. Revenues are expected to be up 51% Y/Y in Q4 2020 to $9.8 billion.
OLED TV panel revenues increased by 46% Y/Y in Q3 2020 to an all-time high of $917 million as LGD has added capacity at its Guangzhou, China fab. Q4 2020 OLED TV panel revenues are expected to increase 28% Y/Y to $959 million, another all-time high.
For the first time ever in Q3 2020, area shipments for OLED TV panels surpassed those of OLED smartphone panels, as shown in the next chart here. OLED shipment area across all applications increased by 20% Y/Y in Q3 to 2.6 million square meters, despite a 13% Y/Y decline in OLED smartphone panel area. OLED TV panel shipment area increased by 71% Y/Y in Q3 2020 to an all-time high of 1.4 million square meters to account for 53% of all OLED panel area. DSCC expects that smartphones will overcome TV in Q4 in area terms with 38% Y/Y growth to 1.7 million square meters compared with 1.5 million for TV. The total OLED panel shipment area is expected to grow 44% Y/Y in Q4 2020 to 3.3 million square meters, an all-time high.
What We Think
On the face of it, the difference between the big revenue boost and the decline in smartphone area might look surprising, the key change is the shift to flexible OLEDs which are significantly more expensive than rigid OLEDs. For the first time in Q4, the volume of flexible displays went above the volume of rigid smartphone OLEDs. (BR)
OLED Revenues by ApplicationClick for additional charts
