The global market for small and medium sized OLED panels is dominated by Samsung, with a share of more than 90%, followed by LGD with a share of approximately 5%. The share of Chinese OLED panel companies is relatively limited. Last year, Apple’s iPhone was first introduced with OLED panels. iPhoneX makes the panel industry excited and believes that the development opportunity of OLED panel industry will come. Under the influence of Apple iPhone, OLED panel will quickly become popular in the smartphone industry.
However, Apple's iPhone X sales are far less than expected. The market adjustment agency SA released data shows that the current sales of the iPhoneX is about 50 million units, while Apple originally ordered 80 million OLED panels for the iPhoneX, which shows that its sales are far lower than expected. Due to the influence of this factor, Apple is not confident that the follow-up iPhoneX models with OLED panels will be launched this year. According to the analysis, Apple's orders for OLED panels are only 50 million to 55 million, which is lower than last year's orders for OLED panels. the amount.
Affected by the poor sales of the iPhoneX, Samsung’s OLED panel production capacity is in surplus, and LGD slows down the production capacity of small and medium sized OLED panels. (LGD is a large-size OLED panel manufacturer for TVs. It is affected by the rapid growth of OLED TV sales. It is in Guangzhou, China. Invested 30 billion yuan to build 8.5 generation OLED panel production line), LGD actively put into production of small and medium-sized OLED panels was originally to compete for Apple's OLED panel orders, and now affected by Apple's decline in demand for OLED panel it also slowed this plan.
Under such circumstances, in fact, for Chinese panel companies, it is precisely the opportunity to develop the OLED panel industry in a contrarian direction. It should not be affected by the slowdown in the production of small and medium size OLED panels by South Korea's two giants Samsung and LGD.
Chinese panel companies BOE and Tianma have already put into production OLED panels. However, currently their yield rate is still low, and their production capacity is limited. Even if they originally claimed to start supplying OLED panels to Huawei, the P20Pro handsets recently released by Huawei are using OLED panels supplied by LGD. , This shows that BOE's OLED panel may not meet Huawei's requirements.
One of the reasons that China's panel makers are making slow progress in improving yields and capacity expansion is the limited production capacity of Tokki vapor deposition machines in the small and medium sized OLED panel evaporation process. The Tokki vapor deposition machine was previously produced. Cannon gave this equipment priority to South Korean companies. In particular, Samsung had even bought out the equipment in the previous two years, making it extremely difficult for Chinese panel companies to purchase Tokki vapor deposition machines.
BOE is the first panel company among Chinese panel companies to get the Tokki vapor deposition machine. This is one of the reasons why it can be the first large-scale production of small and medium-sized OLED panels by domestic panel companies. Nowadays, due to excess production capacity of Samsung OLED panels, LGD slows down. Due to the expansion of small and medium-sized OLED panels, Tokki's evaporation machine has become oversupply. Cannon, which manufactures such equipment, has actively promoted it to Chinese panel companies. In addition to this type of equipment, other key equipment and materials for the production of small and medium sized OLED panels also appeared. The related companies are prioritizing the supply of Korean panel companies. The declining demand for key equipment in Korean companies now provides opportunities for China to acquire such equipment. This will help China's panel makers rapidly expand the production capacity of small and medium sized OLED panels.
China's manufacturing industry needs OLED panels. China's smart phone companies actually have a huge demand for OLED panels. In the domestic top four mobile phones, OPPO and vivo are relying on Samsung OLED panels and OLED screen handsets in China occupy more than 70% of the market. Shares. However, OPPO and vivo have paid a high price for this. Other domestic mobile phone brands have difficulty obtaining the supply of Samsung OLED panels. If Chinese OLED panel companies' OLED panels catch up with South Korean panel companies in terms of technology and quality, Chinese mobile phone companies are expected to Digest the production capacity of these OLED panels to promote the development of China's OLED panel industry.
In the LCD panel industry, Chinese panel companies have achieved the status of the world’s second largest LCD panel production site through continuous continuation of investment, and China’s OLED panel, which is considered as an alternative technology to LCD panels, is expected to expand in a contrarian fashion. Opportunities quickly catch up with Korean companies, which helps China's manufacturing industry to get rid of dependence on foreign advanced technology industries. □ Peng Fengyun