Ever since the inception of cathode ray tube, there have been dramatic improvements in the performance of the displays and their proportionate decrease in prices. This has led the electronics market in a direction where high-end display technologies became increasingly productive and affordable for the consumers. This makes the displays industry unique, which controls all modern electronic segments in the semiconductor industry.
Display Technology is the representation of information textual, pictorial, or graphical and has usage in devices such as TVs, PC Monitor and Notebooks, Smartphones & Tablets, and so on. Displays are used in various form factors including flat panel displays, flexible displays, and micro-displays and operate on display technologies such as LED-backlit LCD, OLED, quantum dot, direct-view LED, E-paper (EPD), liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), digital light processing (DLP), and others.
"Remarkable Turnarounds in Display Technology Supply Chain"
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has been the dominating display technology for last decade, however, LCD market has been volatile since 2015 with rapid fluctuations in panel ASPs due to high competition and aggressive developments made by Chinese panel manufacturers including BOE and CSOT. To lead in display market, LCD suppliers are continuously enhancing the display technology with LTPS, quantum dot enhancement film (QDEF), and other emerging concepts. Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emerged as an advanced and self-emitting display technology for efficient, bright, flexible, and thin display panels. OLED displays are made from organic light-emitting materials and do not require any backlight panel. Since 2015, OLEDs have witnessed rapid adoption in smartphones and wearables. Micro-LED is a futuristic display technology capable of disrupting both LCD and OLED supply chains and players involved in them. Micro-LEDs are light-emitting diodes fabricated in micron size, which can be used in manufacturing a self-emitting display in which tiny LEDs act as subpixels. A combination of RGB LEDs acts as a light as well as color source in a micro-LED display panel. Increasing demand for brighter and more power-efficient display panels for smartwatches, smartphones, televisions, and AR/VR devices will drive the development and subsequent commercialization of the micro-LED display technology and offer growth opportunities to panel manufacturers, LED foundries, manufacturing equipment suppliers, technology know-how and IP developers, and input suppliers. With interest from several leading companies in display technology, supply chain of Micro-LED market is forming up rapidly.
"Trends in Display Technology"
New trends have emerged in Display Technologies including flexible panels, 4K and 8K displays, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and panel production on mother glass. OLED and flexible displays are the hot trends in display market due to their increasing adoption in smart devices including smartphones, wearables (smartwatch, AR/VR HMDs), and smart TV. Automotive offers huge opportunities for panel makers with increasing demand for LCD, OLED, and flexible panels. Direct-View LED displays are revolutionizing the digital signage space. Mini-LED and CSP LED are new trends in LCD backlighting space. Companies are closely monitoring the developments in Micro-LED market including the IP filings, collaborations, acquisitions, and prototype development. Samsung, LG Display, BOE Technology, Foxconn (Innolux & Sharp), AU Optronics, Japan Display (JDI), CSOT, Tianma, CPT, HannStar, and Truly are the leading display panel manufacturers offering respective display technologies.
"Hot Use Cases in Display Technology"
Smart TVs, 8K displays, curved and flexible panels, AR/VR HMDs, Automotive HUD and central displays, ADAS, smart home, smart wearables, and smart mirrors are the hot use cases in display market. Saturated panel shipments of various devices including smartphones, TVs, and PC monitors and laptops is a concerning factor for display panel suppliers, however, there are hot use cases in display market where high growth is expected in future. The trend of smart displays (smart home displays, smart mirror, and smart signage) have emerged recently; smart home displays are intelligent solutions which can be controlled through simple voice commands, remote devices, or with the help of IoT connectivity and artificial intelligence. Smart Mirrors have high demand in automotive space. Such use cases open up new growth opportunities in display technology for display panel manufacturers, technology developers, signage solution providers, and OEMs.
"Impact Factors in Display Technology and Supply Chain"
There are several impacting factors in display technology to watch out for in near future. Innovative display technologies such as Micro-LED and true-quantum dot will impact LCD and OLED ecosystems in future. Construction of Gen 6 and above facilities by Chinese players, with Government support in terms of finance and land offerings, can have significant disruptions in display market in near future. High competition, low profit margin, and fluctuating panel ASPs can impact both OLED and LCD markets. Display panel manufacturing equipment suppliers are set to gain the most with the increased investment in Gen 6 and above facilities and growing OLED demand. OLED material suppliers are witnessing high growth while the demand for LCD components (BLU, Liquid Crystal, and Color Filter) is declining. Fluctuating shipments of display products impact display driver IC (DDIC) market significantly, however, growing demand for OLED displays and development of Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI), chip-on-film (COF), and chip-on-glass (COG) are new trends in DDIC market.
Asia Pacific (APAC) is an important region for the display technology. Japan leads in display equipment and materials markets, while China, South Korea, and Taiwan lead the display panel market. US and European countries especially, Germany and France are contributing to development of innovative concepts in display technologies. US in North America is the key region in terms of demand for display panels for different devices.
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