As the end of 2021 approaches, Omdia is already looking back at the past year and making predictions for 2022. The coronavirus pandemic has caused some dramatic volatility in the display panel industry this year.

Below is a review of various topics relevant to the small and medium size display panel industry. Each theme consists of a summary of 2021 and Omdia's expectations for 2022.

OLED vs. LTPS LCD

2021: Shipments of flexible OLeds increase thanks to new, premium 5G products. They use low temperature polycrystalline oxides (LTPO) to reduce power consumption. Rigid OLeds and LTPS LCDS compete in the high-end and mid-range smartphone markets, with rigid OLeds winning due to their better performance, such as faster speed, better contrast and lower power consumption.

Outlook for 2022: Flexible OLeds will dominate premium and high-end smartphone markets. It will also target the mid-range smartphone market, though reducing production costs will be a challenge. Meanwhile, rigid OLED, which dominates the high-end smartphone market, will target the mobile PC market. Its high performance features make it suitable for gaming and high-speed video content. LTPS LCD will be commoditized in the mid - and low-end smartphone markets.

Flexible OLED display panel

2021:Shipments of foldable OLED are expected to increase by more than 10 million units. Samsung display dominates this market. New technologies, such as LTPO, UPC, COE (Color-on-Encapsulation), and MLP (Micro Light-control Pattern), are actually being produced.

Outlook for 2022: Omdia expects smartphone brands to increase their use of flexible OLeds, mainly because of demand for foldable OLeds from Apple's iPhone and Samsung Electronics co. At the same time, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi will also carry out the procurement expansion of OLED. Demand for tablets and laptops is expected to increase dramatically due to panel features such as fast response times and high contrast. Panel manufacturers will try to use RGB series stacked OLeds in IT applications to achieve better performance. They will also investigate the feasibility of using 8.5 generation line vertical fine metal mask (FMM) evaporation.

Full-screen smartphone display panel

2021: UPC (Under Panel Camera) display panels are released and mass-produced. With UPC, a full-active, full-screen smartphone design is possible.

Outlook for 2022: UPC designs will be commercialized in high-end smartphones from Samsung and Chinese smartphone brands. The focus is on how Apple will apply the UPC design to the iPhone 14 to eliminate grooves in the attached multi-sensor unit.

Six generation line LTPS production line

2021: Demand for smartphone display panels is expected to grow by more than 10% year-on-year in 2021 due to post-PANDEMIC demand. With the release of new 5G smartphone models, OLED demand is growing, while total SHIPMENTS of TFT LCDS, including LTPS and A-SI, are saturated. To increase demand for OLED in China, The challenge for Chinese display panel makers is to advance mass production technology for flexible OLED to catch up with leading South Korean OLED makers.

Outlook for 2022: Chinese suppliers looking to catch up with South Korean suppliers. Omdia expects competition to be fierce, especially in the smartphone display panel market. As LTPS LCD loses market share in smartphone display panels, the sixth-generation line LTPS LCD plant will be allocated to produce tablets and car panels, which are the high-resolution, large-size display panel market.

High resolution panel

2021: Smartphone display resolution is saturated, reaching FHD+. The VR market has taken off due to the positive impact of home demand, which has enabled LTPS LCD high-resolution display products to reach 800-1100 ppi at 90Hz.

Outlook for 2022: After the lockdown policy is eased, the metasurverse ecosystem with VIRTUAL reality is gradually built and the demand for VR panels is aroused. Omdia expects 3D gaming and visual entertainment to spur new demand for VR and AR. LTPS LCD is expected to focus on the automotive market and increase resolution and aspect ratio from WXGA (1920X720) to avoid competing with OLED in the smartphone market.

China's smartphone market

2021: As Huawei's market share declines, other smartphone vendors in mainland China are aggressively purchasing display panels to fit into complete machine production, though they are also concerned about the shortage of display driver IC (DDIC). A shortage of semiconductors has hurt mobile phone production and demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outlook for 2022: Smartphone demand is expected to increase post-COVID-19, but the Chinese smartphone market remains uncertain due to shortages in upstream material flows and tight power supply in China in 2022.

Trends in small and medium size applications

2021: Demand for in-car and smartwatch display panels returns as lockdown eases. Demand for smartwatch display panels with features such as health monitoring will increase in 2021. Due to the work-at-home trend and increased IT access, there is continued demand for home apps such as tablets, e-readers and multi-purpose printers (MFP), even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outlook for 2022: Applications for outdoor use are expected to regain demand when the lockdown is lifted. Demand for smartwatches is expected to reaccelerate to support walking and tracking monitoring. Despite a slight increase in demand for digital camera (DSC) display panels in 2021, its outlook remains uncertain as outbound travel will remain restricted in 2022, and thus tourists' demand will be limited.

Car show

2021: Omdia expects shipments to rebound to 185.3 million units in 2021, up 24.3 percent year on year. The panel market will recover better than light vehicle production thanks to an increased percentage of display panel plant installations and higher inventory readiness.

Outlook for 2022: The market is expected to grow 7.2% yoy to 198.6 million units. That would be slightly slower than light vehicle production, which is expected to grow by 9-10% a year. The lower growth rate was due to inventory adjustments. At the same time, OLED, LTPS and other panel technologies will begin to grow with the recovery of the vehicle market.