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2016/03/14
Brand companies in the global smartphone market have stepped up their search for novel designs and higher hardware specs to better compete in the slow-growth environment One of the high-end components that have attracted brand companies’ attention is AMOLED panel for smartphone displays In addition to being very thin and light, AMOLED panels are flexible enough to accommodate innovative designs as well as offering high color saturation WitsView, a division of TrendForce, estimates that the global AMOLED panel production capacity by area will reach 79 million square meters in 2016, representing a 191% year-on-year increase As panel makers worldwide continue to expand their AMOLED production, the total capacity for 2018 is forecast at 147 million square meters
Currently, Samsung Display Corp (SDC) is the world’s largest supplier of AMOLED panels WitsView Senior Research Manager Boyce Fan said that SDC previously produced AMOLED panels to satisfy the demand from the Samsung brand group However, SDC’s capacity outstripped Samsung’s demand in 2015 As a result, SDC increased its sales of AMOLED panels to other smartphone brands, especially the rising Chinese vendors External customers accounted for 20% of SDC’s total AMOLED sales in 2015 owing to the supplier’s competitive pricing and rising market acceptance
The AMOLED market is also watching closely at the developmental direction of Apple’s products “Many panel makers have started to focus on their AMOLED panel production because there is an increasing likelihood of Apple adopting this technology for its next iPhone,” noted Fan “Also, an AMOLED panel requires an LTPS backplane The panel industry has rapidly built up its LTPS capacity in the past few years, leading to the risk of oversupply Hence, developing the AMOLED market creates new opportunities for the panel makers and can help consume excess LTPS capacity”
For a long time, the global AMOLED production has been concentrated in South Korea SDC is the leading manufacturer of AMOLED panels for small- and medium-size devices, while LG Display (LGD), which has focused on applying this technology to TVs, is the top supplier of large-size AMOLED panels However, WitsView believes the new entrants to the market will be able to gradually catch up to the established suppliers The South Korean panel makers will see their representation in the global AMOLED capacity fall from 95% in 2015 to 76% in 2018 Chinese panel makers, which have substantial capital advantage, will be able to expand their control of the total capacity from 4% to 19% during the same period
Fan added: “Rigid, flat AMOLED panels have been around the market for a while, and they are not much different from the current TFT-LCD panels in terms of appearance Most panel makers are therefore betting on flexible AMOLED panels as they expect greater potential demand for this technology The share of AMOLED capacity used to make flexible panels is projected to rise sharply as suppliers concentrate on developing these products – from just 13% this year to 44% in 2018”
2016/01/29
Television technology took center stage at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, with major brands showing off their latest high-resolution sets during the event “Ultra-high-definition (UHD) resolution is the basis from which TV brands will make further improvements on their products,” said Boyce Fan, senior research manager for WitsView, a division of TrendForce “As the market gradually matures, TV industry hopes to rekindle consumers’ interests with features such as high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays and ultra-thin sets”
Besides LCD TVs, the emerging application of automotive displays has also generated excitement in the panel market Below are some of the major themes reflected in the exhibitions of various display technologies and applications during this year’s CES:
TV industry establishes UHD Premium standard to address the demand for superior viewing experience
WitsView projects the market penetration of 4K TV sets will reach 22% in 2016 as the popularity of the UHD format continues to grow Also, consumers’ demand for superior picture quality has again pushed the concept of HDR to the forefront of innovations The previous promotional efforts for HDR came from the hardware side of the industry This year’s HDR campaign, however, is industry-wide and integrates all the critical aspects – content offerings, channel broadcasting and end devices Moreover, the industry group UHD Alliance used the 2016 CES as an opportunity to introduce UHD Premium, the next-generation UHD standard
South Korean panel makers accelerate their AMOLED development to widen their lead over Taiwanese and Chinese competitors
LG Electronics (LGE), Panasonic and several Chinese TV brands all unveiled their AMOLED UHD products at the CES Shipments of AMOLED TV sets worldwide may hit 1 million units this year, according to WitsView
The smartphone panel market is also seeing an increasing AMOLED presence as Samsung Display Corp (SDC) steps up its sales of this technology to other branded smartphone makers Consequently, more Chinese smartphone brands have released models with AMOLED displays, and the technology’s influence in the high-end smartphone market is expected to grow
Likewise, monitor and notebook brands have been exploring the prospect of using AMOLED displays for their high-end products as well Fan noted that there is not much differences among panel products in the saturated thin-film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD) market Therefore, AMOLED becomes a major differential advantage for the South Korean panel makers as they again try to extend their competitive lead over their Taiwanese and Chinese rivals The Korean panel suppliers’ intention to accelerate their AMOLED development is evident in their increasing investments in the technology
Growth in the automotive panel market will drive demand for specially shaped and curved display screens in vehicles in the future
Fan pointed out that advances made on infotainment systems, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other Internet of vehicle platforms have greatly expanded the potential consumer demand for in-vehicle information displays These various sources of demand in turn will spur the growth of the panel market for automotive application Also, aesthetics plays a major role in the development of new vehicle models The demand for specially shaped and curved panels is likely to rise rapidly in response to design requirements of future vehicles
2016/01/05
The latest research from WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reveals that shipments of panels for smartphone displays for 2015 are expected to reach 182 billion units, and the total shipments for 2016 are forecast to grow 7% year on year to 195 billion units Thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD smartphone panels manufactured with low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) and oxide TFT technologies are projected to account for 298% of the 2015 global smartphone panel shipments Their share is forecast to expand further to 346% in 2016 Samsung Display Corp (SDC) has been busily promoting the active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology, which is estimated to represent 121% of smartphone panels shipped worldwide in 2015 For 2016, the share of AMOLED products in smartphone panel shipments will have a chance to grow to 14%
“More smartphones in the mid-range market are adopting Full HD (FHD) display, and panel makers continue to lower their prices for LTPS products while expanding their LTPS capacities,” said Boyce Fan, WitsView senior research manager “Under the current circumstances, shipments of LTPS smartphone panels are expected to keep growing in 2016 At the same time, AMOLED panels will gain more grounds in the high-end smartphone market as well Panels manufactured with the traditional amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology, by contrast, will continue to see their share in smartphone panel shipments get squeezed in the competition”
Chinese smartphone vendors will drive the LTPS demand in the mid-range and high-end markets
Fan also noted that the global LTPS capacity for a long time catered mainly to Apple for its iPhone series, with the major suppliers being Japanese Display Inc (JDI), LG Display (LGD) and Sharp Other smartphone vendors could only secure surplus capacity for their high-end models However, panel suppliers lately have been eyeing China as a target market for LTPS products on account of local smartphone brands’ rapid rise First-tier panel suppliers are still ahead in terms of technology and shipment volume for their LTPS products However, late market entrants – AU Optronics (AUO), Innolux, Tianma and BOE Technology (BOE) – are starting to expand their capacities and intend to increase their LTPS market share with aggressive pricing
AMOLED panels present an opportunity for smartphone vendors to differentiate their products
The gradual homogenization of smartphone panel products has given the AMOLED technology a chance to expand its market share Fan pointed out that AMOLED panels offer high color saturation along with being light, thin and efficient in power consumption These are qualities that smartphone vendors can use to set their products apart from the competition Moreover, SDC is pressing ahead with selling AMOLED panels to customers outside of the Samsung brand and has established itself in the supply chains of several Chinese smartphone vendors during 2015 Approximately 20% of the total AMOLED panel shipments from SDC in 2015 went to non-Samsung customers, according to WitsView’s projection
2015/11/30
Since 2013, major LCD panel makers have continually invested in fabs producing LTPS (low-temperature polysilicon) LCD panels as to capture demand in the high-end smartphone market WitsView, a division of TrendForce, estimates that this year’s global LTPS production capacity by area will stand at 94 million square meters, and next year’s capacity will reach 107 million square meters With capacity expanding next year, WitsView Senior Research Manager Boyce Fan expects no relief from the oversupply situation and the margins of LTPS products will be squeezed further
According to TrendForce’s report on trends in next year’s smartphone market, growth rate has slowed significantly this year and will not return to double digits Boyce pointed out that the market’s growth momentum will shift from being based on shipment volume to being based on specs upgrades This year, for example, the display resolution specs of mainstream smartphones (sized 5 inches and above) have advanced onto HD (high definition) and FHD (full high definition) displays In-Cell touch display has also become a prevalent feature in high-end smartphones
The following are three major trends developing in the smartphone panel industry next year:
Smartphone panel market is set for another round of shakeout as expansion in LTPS capacity drives down prices
In the LTPS panel market, Japanese and South Korean suppliers currently have the edge in both shipments and technology However, their lead will narrow as other panel makers expand their LTPS capacity Fan said the slowdown in the smartphone market and the increase in the overall LTPS capacity will soon spark a price war that may result in another of shakeout in the panel market The winners of this competition will be panel companies that can get their LTPS fabs to achieve high yield rates earlier than others, so they will also have an initial cost and pricing advantage Having lower prices is crucial to dominating the oversupplied LTPS panel market since this advantage will further help secure relationships with clients and expand channels of consumption
The share of FHD smartphones worldwide will continue to grow next year
HD resolution is now the prevailing display spec for entry-level smartphones and HD panel prices have touched the bottom Therefore, the core display spec of mid-range and high-end smartphones has shifted to FHD “FHD resolution will be higher than 400 PPI (pixels per inch), and LTPS is suited for the production of such panels,” said Fan “Panel makers with LTPS fabs are thus potential suppliers of mid-range and high-end smartphone panels”
Though LTPS panel suppliers are still relatively few, they have begun to cut their prices for their FHD products since the start of this year as to capture market share and strengthen relationships with clients Late entrants to the LTPS market will face enormous challenges in staying profitable in the competition At the same time, branded smartphone vendors will release more devices featuring FHD displays By resolution specs, WitsView estimates that FHD models will account for 18% of the smartphone market this year, and this share will increase significantly to at least 25% in 2016
Smartphone suppliers using technologies alternative to LTPS have also been quick to seize the opportunities coming from the rising demand for FHD smartphone displays The various manufacturing technologies include a-Si (amorphous silicon) LCD, oxide TFT (thin-film transistor) LCD and AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) Samsung Display Corp (SDC) has made steady progress in supplying AMOLED panels to customers outside of the Samsung brand this year and is expected to expand its effort in this area next year, squeezing the shares that LTPS panels have in the mid-range and high-end smartphone markets More suppliers with different technologies also means that the price competition in the FHD smartphone panel market will intensify
Narrow bezels and flexible panels will inspire new smartphone designs
Exterior design will be a major area of competition in next year’s smartphone market Narrow bezel has emerged as a design trend in recent years, and the frames around smartphone screens are expected to become much thinner (with borders of some panel modules being less than 1mm) Another source of design innovation comes from AMOLED panels, which are light and thin as well as offering high color saturation AMOLED panels moreover allows for the creation of flexible displays Samsung’s Edge series, for example, has smartphones that features AMOLED displays that curve to the edges On the whole, the market scale for flexible display design is expected to grow further next year
2015/09/10
The share of In-Cell and On-Cell touch display solutions within the smartphone application is rising fast, according to WitsView, a division of TrendForce With Japanese panel makers as the leading adopter, the combined share of In-Cell and On-Cell solutions in the smartphone market is expected to hit 406% this year and will likely reach 478% in 2016, as these technologies will subsequently gain support from other panel makers from South Korea, Taiwan and China
“In-Cell technology began to attract the market’s attention when Apple introduced it to the iPhone 5 series,” said Boyce Fan, senior research manager for WitsView “The technology gained additional momentum as Japanese panel maker Japan Display (JDI) seized the opportunity to apply its Hybrid In-Cell solution to all of its high-end smartphone panels Since then, JDI has aggressively promote this technology in China, raising both the reputation of In-Cell displays in the high-end smartphone market and the panel maker’s brand recognition”
Fan added that In-Cell technology, which is now featured in almost all high-end smartphone displays, is also attempting to enter the mid-range segment as to enlarge its overall market share Also, an increasing number of panel makers are drawn into developing In-Cell solutions since a single supplier is unable to meet the soaring market demand Besides South Korea-based LG Display (LGD), which has been marketing its Advanced In-Cell (AIT) solution, other panel companies are also planning to launch their own In-Cell products in the second half of this year They include leading Taiwanese suppliers AU Optronics (AUO) and Innolux as well as Chinese majors such as BOE Technology Group (BOE) and Tianma Microelectronics
In-Cell and On-Cell Solutions steadily gain market share over Film Type technologies
The expansion of In-Cell comes at the expense of other Out-Cell touch display technologies Even Film Type, which had an absolute cost advantage in the past, is losing grounds as the whole market matures and competition with In-Cell and On-Cell intensifies WitsView projects that the market share of Film Type products will drop from the estimated 493% in 2015 to 443% in 2016
Taiwanese panel makers, which are proponents of On-Cell solutions, are also losing market shares due to the rise of In-Cell technology Consequently, they have to offer lower prices in the ODM market in order to stay competitive On the other hand, South Korea-based Samsung Display (SDC) has applied On-Cell technology on its Super AMOLED panels, and this fuels the demand for AMLOED with On-Cell solutions Besides being featured in Samsung products, AMOLED with On-Cell technology has also gained a foothold in China this year owing aggressive marketing efforts Consequently, On-Cell adoption rate in the smartphone has actually stabilized
Fan noted that SDC’s AMOLED products are developed in a way that is limited to using On-Cell technology, whereas other panel makers appear to rush ahead into launching their In-Cell solutions With the smartphone market evolving rapidly, panel makers will initially launch In-Cell FHD products that are without Touch with Display Driver Integration (TDDI) in the second half of 2015 as to raise their brand visibility in the market After TDDI chips enter mass production towards the end of this year, panel makers will then take advantage of the situation and release In-Cell FHD products with TDDI WitsView concludes that with more panel makers employing In-Cell solutions, products based on this technology will become common in the market next year, and there will be notable increase in the adoption rate within the smartphone application
