TrendForce´s recent analysis of the display industry highlights a pivotal shift in the OLED market. While organic light-emitting diode technology has firmly established itself in small-size devices like smartphones, its progress into large-format displays has faced obstacles, primarily due to high production costs and limited manufacturing capacity. However, the emergence of the mid-size segment, spanning monitors, notebooks, tablets, and in-vehicle displays, signals a new phase for OLED technology. This transition is fueled by consumer appetite for richer visual experiences and lighter, thinner devices.
The report projects a significant uptick in OLED monitor shipments, forecasting an 80.6% year-over-year increase in 2025 and overall market penetration rising from 2% in 2025 to a predicted 5% by 2028. This surge indicates not only an expanding appetite for premium display solutions but also a maturing supply landscape. Notably, Chinese firms such as Visionox and TCL CSOT are pursuing differentiated OLED approaches to capture this growth. Visionox is advancing its Visionox intelligent Pixelization (ViP) technology, while TCL CSOT is pioneering OLED production via inkjet printing — both aiming to bypass the fine metal mask (FMM) limitations of evaporation-based manufacturing.
In contrast, Korean manufacturers have remained focused on QD-OLED and white OLED (WOLED) evaporation techniques, which, while popular in high-end TVs, have not achieved widespread cost efficiency for mid-size panels. The entry of alternative fabrication techniques from China could disrupt established industry balances, particularly if they succeed in reducing production costs and boosting output. As the mid-size OLED segment heats up, competition among panel manufacturers is set to intensify, promising faster innovation and potentially more affordable next-generation displays for end users.
