Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) has recently published their latest
By application on a revenue basis, smartphones gained share in 2017-Q4, reaching 90.2% of the smartphone market at US$ 7.95 billions. For the year, smartphones accounted for US$20.3 billion out of the US$23.2 billion market or 87.4%, up from 86.7% the prior year.
OLED TV panel revenues rose 35% Q/Q and 51% Y/Y in 2017-Q47 to US$ 438 million and a 5.0% share, down from 6.0% in Q3’17. For the year, OLED TV panels were the second largest OLED application on a revenue basis with a 5.6% share and generated US$ 1.3 billion in revenues, up 49% Y/Y.
Smart Watch panels were the 3rd largest application in 2017 with a 3.2% share. No other application accounted for more than a 2% share due to the dominance of smartphones. On an area basis, it was much closer with smartphones leading with a 64% to 33% advantage over TVs for 2017.
By panel supplier, Samsung earned a 90.1% share in 2017-Q4 on US$ 7.9 billion in revenues as shown in Figure 3, up 63% Q/Q and 222% Y/Y. It was followed by LG Display at 8.8% in 2017-Q4 and 8.6% for the year.
Although six other suppliers earned OLED revenues, no other supplier had more than a 0.5% share in 2017-Q4 or for the year.
Despite their low share, Chinese OLED suppliers did enjoy strong growth, up 98% to US$278 million and are expected to jump 177% in 2018 to US$771 million. On a unit basis, China’s OLED shipments rose 124% to 11.7 million and are expected to rise 143% in 2018 to 28.4 million.
The report also tracks shipments and share by customer. Samsung was the leading OLED brand in 2017 with a 47% share on over US$ 10 billion in OLED panel procurement. Apple was second with a 29% share. In Q4’17, Apple led with a 52% share with Samsung at 30% due to the iPhone X ramp. LG was the #3 brand with a 5% share. Apple is expected to lead in 2018 as well followed by Samsung and LG.
The report also tracks OLED form factor covering rigid vs. flexible and soon foldable and rollable. On a revenue basis, flexible OLEDs led rigid OLEDs in revenues on an all application basis for the 3rd consecutive quarter, reaching a 75% share in 2017-Q4 on 100% Q/Q growth to US$6.6 billion.
For 2017, flexible revenues outpaced rigid revenues with a 59% to 41% share advantage on 251% Y/Y growth with rigid revenues down 14%. In just smartphones, flexible OLEDs reached a 48% unit share in 2017-Q4, up from 33%, helped by the iPhone X ramp. On a US$ basis, the higher priced flexible OLEDs had an 80% share in 2017-Q4, up from 66% on 104% growth to US$ 6.4 billion.
In terms of the OLED smartphone market in Q4’17, shipments rose 31% Q/Q and 24% Y/Y to 123M, a record high with rigid shipments at 63 million and flexible shipments at 60 million. Five-inch (5") was the leading rigid size while 5.8" was the leading flexible size and leading size overall led by iPhone X shipments. Samsung was the leading customer on a unit basis with a 49% share followed by Apple at 29% and Oppo and Vivo at 7% shares respectively. Samsung was also the leading panel supplier in 2017-Q4 with a 96% unit share followed by LG Display with 2%.
While the flexible OLED smartphone growth was extremely impressive, OLED TV panel growth was also impressive in 2017-Q4. OLED TV panel shipments rose 41% Q/Q and 106% Y/Y to 635,000 units with 55" 4K leading with a 66% share followed by 65" 4K with a 28% share. On a revenue basis in 2017-Q4, OLED TV panels rose 35% Q/Q and 51% Y/Y to US$ 438 million with 55" 4K holding a 53% share and 65" 4K holding a 41% share.
For all of 2017 on a revenue basis, we show 65" 4K holding a slight 46% to 45% share advantage over 55" 4K. By customer, LGE was the #1 OLED TV brand at every size and resolution for the year and for 2017-Q4 on both a unit and revenue basis. It enjoyed a 72% unit share overall for the year followed by Sony at 14%.
This report also tracks fab utilisation and does show a significant drop at Samsung Display due to over-reliance on a single model from a single customer who is unlikely to lower prices due to significant pricing power.
While OLED revenues are currently forecasted to drop 29% Q/Q to US$ 6.3 billion, it will still represent a 48% Y/Y increase. In addition, in 2018-Q3 OLEDs are expected to establish a new record high as OLED penetration increases into new smartphones as OLED prices fall.
DSCC's Quarterly OLED Shipment and Fab Utilization Report tracks monthly OLED and LTPS LCD fab utilization and forecasts OLED shipments by application, form factor, size, resolution, panel supplier and customer through 2022.