The prosperity of terminal applications is a crucial factor determining the development of the display industry. Looking back at the rapid development history of the display industry in recent decades, it has been driven by several waves of innovative application trends in electronic consumer products, including laptops, smartphones, monitors, and televisions, each providing significant momentum for the explosive growth of the display industry at different times.
In early February of this year, the Apple Vision Pro headset was officially launched. Despite its high price ranging from $3499 to $3899, it remains in high demand, signaling the beginning of rapid growth in the virtual reality product market, driven by Apple. The recent releases of the Askie M9 and Xiaomi SU7, among other new energy vehicles, have once again upgraded the cool applications of in-car displays, propelling the rapid development of in-car displays with the assistance of major automotive companies.
On March 27th, BOE (BOE Technology Group) laid the foundation for China's first 8.6th generation AMOLED production line in Chengdu, with a total investment of 63 billion yuan. The designed capacity aims to produce 32,000 glass substrates per month (sized at 2290mm x 2620mm), primarily for high-end OLED touchscreens used in laptops, tablets, and other smart terminals.
Both the terminal market and display panel enterprises are actively striving for the mutual prosperity of the display industry, with unprecedented enthusiasm for innovation throughout the industry chain.
As traditional applications experience declining shipments, technological innovation seeks a way forward. Data released by statistical agencies indicates that in 2023, global shipments of laptops were approximately 166 million units, tablets around 135 million units, and monitors around 125 million units, all showing varying degrees of year-on-year decline.
Furthermore, global smartphone shipments in 2023 plummeted to 1.17 billion units, marking the lowest annual shipment volume in a decade. This decline was mainly attributed to macroeconomic challenges and increased inventory levels at the beginning of the year. In contrast to the overall decline in smartphone shipments, the shipment volume of foldable smartphones reached 15.9 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 25%, accounting for approximately 1.4% of the smartphone market share. The rise of foldable smartphones provides a better opportunity for the panel industry.
Regarding panel shipments, the global shipment volume of AMOLED panels sized at 9 inches and below for smartphones reached 842 million units in 2023, an 11% increase from the previous year. Samsung, which once dominated the AMOLED smartphone panel market, continued to decline in market share, falling below 50% for the first time. Meanwhile, domestic AMOLED panel enterprises such as BOE, Visionox, Tianma, China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT), and TCL Huaxing witnessed a steady increase in shipment volume.
With OLED applications gradually expanding from the smartphone market to areas such as monitors, laptops, tablets, and automotive displays, domestic panel enterprises are also beginning to layout high-generation OLED panel lines. The foundation of BOE's 8.6th generation AMOLED production line in Chengdu, along with the active preparation of high-generation AMOLED panel lines by Visionox and TCL Huaxing, will inject new growth momentum and vitality into the domestic panel industry.
Major panel companies such as BOE, TCL China Star, HKC, Visionox, Tianma Microelectronics, Hehui Optoelectronics, Longteng Optoelectronics, and JDI will gather at the DIC EXPO 2024 International (Shanghai) Display Technology and Application Innovation Exhibition from July 3rd to 5th at the Shanghai New International Expo Center to showcase their latest products and technological solutions.
The automotive display sector is a new blue ocean in the panel industry.
In 2023, the global shipment of automotive display panels reached approximately 210 million units, with a year-on-year growth of about 7%, contrasting sharply with the declining performance in traditional application fields. As automotive displays increasingly trend towards larger screens, multi-screens, and intelligence, the automotive display market has become a blue ocean market widely favored by panel enterprises. Panel companies are actively expanding into the automotive display market with high-end technologies such as Mini LED backlight LCD panels, OLED panels, Micro-LED panels, and more. Automobile manufacturers are also engaging in closer collaborations with panel enterprises, actively introducing innovative applications such as intelligent rearview mirrors, rear entertainment screens, and seamless displays.
According to data from TrendForce, in 2023, BOE continued to demonstrate its position as a market leader by shipping approximately 35.4 million panels, capturing a 17% global market share, securing the top spot in the industry. Tianma shipped around 2.95 billion panels, claiming 14% of the global market share. Japan Display Inc. (JDI) shipped about 23.9 million panels, reducing its share in the global automotive display market to 11%. AU Optronics (AUO) shipped around 23.3 million automotive display panels, while LG Display shipped approximately 18 million panels.
In the automotive display sector, panel manufacturers have been introducing advanced technologies in recent years. For instance, BOE unveiled the world's first 45-inch 9K oxide Mini LED automotive display. BOE's automotive screens now feature leading cockpit display technologies such as large size, flexible curvature, HDR, ALS, low reflectivity, anti-peep display, and in-box heating. Additionally, BOE continuously introduces new-generation automotive display system products in various forms, including head-up displays (HUDs), transparent A-pillar central control displays, rear entertainment systems, transparent display windows, electronic side mirrors, and instrument cluster displays, which are widely applied across mainstream automotive brands.
Visionox's automotive display lineup spans from 4 inches to 13 inches with AMOLED products. Recently, it has showcased various innovative technologies, products, and solutions such as flexible AMOLED dynamic curved automotive applications, integrated solutions for flexible AMOLED automotive human-machine interaction (HMI), transparent AMOLED automotive display solutions, AMOLED central control display solutions, and smart skin AMOLED automotive display solutions.
Tianma recently presented an 8.07-inch high PPI transparent irregular-shaped Micro-LED display. It adopts Tianma's innovative pixel design and sophisticated TFT stacking technology, overcoming challenges such as deep etching, to achieve finer image quality under high transparency. Moreover, it employs an innovative driving scheme to enhance overall screen brightness and uniformity, achieving a transparency rate of up to 55%, leading the industry in this aspect.
Various panel companies will also unveil new products for automotive applications at the DIC EXPO 2024 International (Shanghai) Display Technology and Application Innovation Exhibition, which will take place from July 3rd to 5th at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. Additionally, the DIC EXPO 2024 will host the 3rd Smart Cockpit and Advanced Window Technology Forum, where industry professionals will discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the development of the smart cockpit supply chain. They will explore how to integrate resources such as equipment, materials, production, processes, applications, and brands through upstream and downstream collaboration to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
The field of commercial display applications is expected to grow steadily. According to consulting agencies, the global market size of typical commercial display products (including commercial TVs, digital signage, interactive panels, splicing screens, fine-pitch LED screens, and commercial projectors) reached approximately $32 billion in 2023. The Chinese market accounted for ¥637 billion, or 26.5% of the global market, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 7% over the next five years. It is forecasted that by 2028, the global market size for commercial displays will reach $54.2 billion.
Currently, China has developed a large number of companies specializing in commercial displays, including BOE, TCL Huaxing, HKC, Visionox, Leyard, Zhongming, Mempis Technology, Haori, Huaqi Chuangzhi, Hanwang, Hikvision, Hisense, Changhong, and Xgimi.
The DIC EXPO 2024 International (Shanghai) Display Technology and Application Innovation Exhibition will take place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from July 3rd to 5th this year. Major display companies will showcase their new products. Additionally, the 3rd Innovation Display "Industry Enhancement" Seminar, jointly organized by the Liquid Crystal Branch of the China Optics and Optoelectronics Industry Association, Nikkei BP, and DISCIEN, will be held on July 3rd at the same venue. This seminar will focus on the transformation and upgrading trends of commercial displays in six major industries: entertainment, medical, conferencing, government, retail, and education.
The AR/VR industry is gradually maturing. According to statistics, global VR sales in 2023 reached 7.53 million units, a 24% decrease from 2022, mainly due to declines in sales of leading brands like Meta and Pico. In 2023, Meta sold approximately 5.34 million units, a 32% decrease from 2022, while Pico sold 260,000 units, a 73% decrease from 2022. The stagnation in growth of VR, primarily driven by gaming applications, started in 2022 due to long replacement cycles, lack of compelling content driving hardware upgrades, and consumer reluctance to upgrade, leading to negative growth in the VR market over the past two years. In the AR sector, shipments reached 510,000 units in 2023, a 21% increase from the previous year, with entertainment-focused AR glasses remaining the main growth driver.
The introduction of Apple's head-mounted products will further guide the development of the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) industries, promoting the development of more application-side software. Additionally, the continuous improvement of technologies such as silicon-based OLED and Micro-LED provides increasingly robust hardware support for the VR and AR industries.
On July 4th, the Liquid Crystal Branch of the China Optics and Optoelectronics Industry Association, in collaboration with New Materials Online, will host the 2024 XR Product Structure Material and Performance Testing Forum, aiming to build a comprehensive platform for industry demonstration and exchange with a global perspective, focusing on new materials, technologies, and products in the VR/AR industry chain.
Future trends in the display industry:
To explore future trends in the display industry, the DIC FORUM 2024 China (Shanghai) International Display Industry Summit will connect the international and domestic markets, integrate government, industry, academia, research, and application, gather industry resources, and enhance industry exchange and collaboration. The forum is expected to invite over 45 experts, senior executives, and industry leaders as speakers, with more than 800 attendees, including over 35 industry experts and 450 senior executives. Over 4,000 participants are expected during the two-day event.
Meanwhile, the DIC EXPO 2024 International (Shanghai) Display Technology and Application Innovation Exhibition is dedicated to providing a comprehensive trade platform integrating exhibition, industry exchange, and procurement negotiation for the global display industry. The exhibition is expected to attract over 500 participating companies, covering an exhibition area of 50,000 square meters, and draw over 30,000 professional visitors. We look forward to your presence!
