What Display Daily thinks: Your’e not going to get any sense that South Korea’s display industry is anywhere but heading in the right direction with the promise of its OLED expertise in large format displays.
You could probably discount that notion as paying lip service to the actual dynamics of the large format display market while propping up the origination and investment of an all-in approach to OLED dominance.
The tech and results make sense. They do, totally, but I reckon that the display industry has spent way too much time talking in an echo chamber, ie, we are great, look at how great we are, and yes, we are great. It’s kind of easy to do when you look at the progression of display technologies, and the performance of OLED.
The reality of the market, and reading the actual comments of Samsung Display’s CEO, you get the feeling that all is not well. Does South Korea have a year or year and a half lead over Chinese competitors on OLED. That distance will dramatically shrink in a heartbeat , about 9 months in display industry time, if the Chinese companies see enough volume opportunities and pricing competitiveness as the consumer level.
There’s no magic bullet hidden in OLED. I would say, the South Korean display industry is going to reconfigure itself before the end of this year and that we won’t be having any conversations about the lead in OLED technology at that point.
Samsung CEO on South Korea’s OLED Prospects
The headline in The Elec is, South Korea to reclaim top spot in displays from China by 2027. It’s pretty clear cut, right?
The actual article says: Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun believes that South Korea will be able to regain its position as the world’s largest display panel producer from China by 2027. However, this depends on various factors, including the revenue generated from the LCD market.
He also acknowledges Chinese companies are realizing the limitations of LCD performance and are shifting their focus to OLED panels. The adoption of OLED technology in the industry will play a significant role in determining when South Korea reclaims its top position.
Chinese panel companies like BOE, CSOT, Tianma, Visionox, and Everdisplay have increased their Gen 6 OLED factory operation rates due to the popularity of OLED smartphones in China. Many of these companies are operating their OLED factories at full capacity. Yet, the belief is that South Korean display panel makers are still ahead of their Chinese rivals in terms of technology development by a year to a year and a half, although the gap has narrowed compared to the past.
Samsung Display plans to increase its success rate in research and secure more talent to maintain its lead in the industry, according to the article but the adoption of OLED technology in products other than smartphones is expected to take longer due to the more advanced technological requirements for larger displays. South Korean companies are ahead of their Chinese competitors in this aspect.
