Korean Media: "China is Catching Up Too Quickly," South Korea's OLED Advantage Significantly Diminished!
On July 18, Korean media outlet Today's Finance published an article stating that Chinese enterprises are accelerating their catch-up efforts in the flagship product of South Korea's display industry—OLED.
According to a report released by the Overseas Economic Research Institute of the Korea Eximbank, last year South Korea held a global OLED market share of 68.7%, while China accounted for 31.2%.
Since China entered the OLED market in 2015, the gap between the two countries in OLED market share has been gradually narrowing.
In 2020, South Korea’s market share stood at 87.3%, with China at 12.1%, resulting in a difference of 75.2 percentage points; however, this gap narrowed to 47.9 percentage points (South Korea: 73.6%, China: 25.7%) by 2023, and further decreased to just 34.9 percentage points (South Korea: 67.2%, China: 32.3%) in 2024.
Market research firm Counterpoint Research recently forecasted that by 2029, Chinese companies’ OLED production capacity will surpass that of South Korea.
Chinese enterprises, including BOE—the largest display manufacturer in China—are experiencing rapid growth by supplying low-cost OLED panels to domestic smartphones.
Last year, South Korea held a 64% share of the small- and medium-sized OLED panel market for smartphones and other devices, while China held 35.9%.
The report analyzes that China is rapidly catching up with South Korea in the OLED panel market for IT devices such as laptops and tablets, leveraging technological expertise accumulated in smartphone OLEDs.
It is estimated that the technological gap between the two countries in the IT OLED sector was 3 to 4 years in 2023, but it has now shrunk to about two years.
The report notes: “Although there remains a gap in mass production technology and quality, China may continue to heavily invest in equipment to enhance technological maturity and launch aggressive mass production initiatives. If South Korea slows down its R&D pace, its leadership in the OLED field could be overtaken by China.”
Original Article: toutiao.com/article/1871038768433355/
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