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LG Display ranks No. 1 in global display panel market for smartwatches

LG Display ranks No. 1 in global display panel market for smartwatches

Posted July. 10, 2018 07:57,   

Updated July. 10, 2018 07:57

한국어

LG Display remained as the top supplier in the global OLED market for smartwatch display panels for three consecutive years since 2015.

The South Korean tech titan shipped 10.64 million units of active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display panels for smartwatches last year, accounting for 41.4 percent of the global market, according to data from market researcher IHS Markit. Samsung Display followed with 34.8 percent at 8.95 million units. The third to fifth places were taken by Chinese companies, namely EverDisplay Optronics (16.2 percent at 4.17 million units), AU Optronics (5.7 percent at 1.47 million units), and Beijing Oriental Electronics (1.5 percent at 380,000 units).

LG Display’s performance was apparently helped by strong shipments to Apple Inc. Until 2014, it was Samsung Display that ranked as the world’s largest supplier of smartwatch panels as the company supplied parts for its smartwatch “Gear S.” Yet, with Apple starting to produce the “Apple Watch” in the end of 2014, LG Display, which had shipped the entire quantity of required panels for the Apple Watch, reached the top in the global market. The South Korean display maker was in charge of the 75 percent of OLED panels for Apple’s smartwatches as of last year.

Industry sources say that LG Display will maintain its top place in the market as Apple is expected to lead the smartwatch market by 2022.


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com