It's been projected for a while now that Chinese OLED manufacturers will outpace their Korean counterparts, and that's precisely what has happened for the first time ever in Q1 2024. This has led to concerns that perhaps Korean OLED manufacturers may not be able to effectively contain the threat that's rising from China.
What's particularly important to note is that the Chinese manufacturers have been able to achieve this despite Samsung Display remaining the dominant supplier of OLED panels for devices like smartphones and tablets.
Chinese companies are favoring local OLED suppliers
The latest market data shows that China's OLED shipments for smartphones and tablets accounted for 53.4% of total shipments in the January – March 2024 period. The Korean manufacturers came in second place with 46.6%.
Chinese suppliers have registered a 15.6% increase in their shipments year-over-year. On an individual company basis, Samsung Display remained the dominant OLED supplier in the world, accounting for 41% of all OLED shipments, despite a 12.3% decline year-over-year.
It's pertinent to note that the vast majority of China's OLED shipments go towards covering domestic demand. Chinese IT and smartphone companies are making a conscious effort to source OLED panels from local manufacturers. Companies like Huawei, Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, and others who have launched OLED smartphones have sourced local panels for their devices.
This has led to Korean manufacturers losing a major chunk of business in China. Korean display makers supplied 56% of all OLED panels sourced by Chinese smartphone makers in 2022 but that figure has since dropped to just 16% in 2023.
While it's true that Korean OLED manufacturers like Samsung hold the technological advantage, there's no denying the fact that the Chinese display makers are also investing heavily in new technologies and are ramping up their capabilities. The threat of Chinese panel makers taking away business from the Korean companies in other markets across the globe remains a concerning possibility.
