Samsung Display faces new opportunities for sales growth as the growing demand for fifth-generation smartphones is expected to drive up sales of the firm’s small and medium-sized OLED panels, industry watchers said Sunday.

OLED panels, a key component of large-screen smartphones, are seeing increased demand with the rise in consumption of high-definition video and game content among handset users. 




Global handset makers, Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, began to adopt OLED mainly for flagship products with differentiated features and designs such as fast response times, low power consumption, excellent image quality and full-screen displays.

The global shipment of 5G smartphones is expected to increase 17-fold from 11 million units this year to 190 million next year, according to the US market research firm IDC. The research firm also forecast that the 5G smartphone market would reach 540 million units in 2023, accounting for 31 percent of the total smartphone market.

Samsung Display is currently leading the global market with an 86 percent share in the global OLED market, according to market research firm IHS Markit.

“Although there are concerns about intensifying competition for small and medium-sized display panels due to increased production capacity, the adoption of OLEDs is expected to rise due to rising demand for the replacement of 5G smartphones,” a Samsung Display representative said in an earnings call in October. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)