Korea-based panel makers Samsung Display and LG Display are working keenly to push their AMOLED panels into automotive applications, eyeing more growth, while China-based makers are also doing the same with the take-off of China's new energy car industry, according to DIGITIMES Research's latest study on the AMOLED panel industry.
Samsung Display and LG Display have both turned their business focus to AMOLED panels and obtained robust orders for mainstream applications including smartphones, tablets, and notebooks, but competition from Chinese makers including BOE, Tianma, Visionox, and CSOT has also grown fiercer, prompting the two Korean companies to turn to automotive applications, DIGITIMES Research's findings show.
Samsung Display was the earliest to volume produce AMOLED panels, but the maker has seen a sliding share in the handset AMOLED panel market since its Chinese competitors are offering their flexible AMOLED panels at an identical price point as Samsung Display's rigid AMOLED panels. Because of that, Samsung Display has chosen to push its rigid AMOLED panels into the automotive display market, seeking a new path for growth.
LG Display, which does not have a capacity for rigid AMOLED panels, is focusing on promoting its flexible AMOLED panels in the automotive display market.
On the other hand, China-based Everdisplay Optronics, a producer of rigid AMOLED panels, was the earliest Chinese supplier of automotive AMOLED panels and is mainly supplying panels to automakers SAIC Motor and Geely, which are also located in Shanghai, China.
BOE, which has the most AMOLED panel capacity and focuses mainly on flexible panels, has also been pushing into the automotive AMOLED panel market, mainly landing orders from Chinese automakers.
Other Chinese AMOLED panel makers such as Visionox, Tianma, and CSOT, are currently still in R&D of their automotive AMOLED panels and are unlikely to begin volume producing the panels until 2024 or 2025.
AMOLED panels' weak environment endurance is currently the largest obstacle hindering the display technology's full entrance into the automotive display market. Some automakers, for their high-end vehicles, still prefer to adopt TFT LCD panels powered by miniLED backlight modules (BLMs) for their dashboard displays due to safety concerns.
