DisplaySearch: Samsung SDI is top OLED maker02

Sony got all the attention in Q4 07 with the release of its 11inch XEL-1 TV set, but Samsung SDI drove the display market, pushing shipments to 20.2 million units, up 30 percent q-on-q but down 9 percent y-on-y. For the year, total revenues grew 6 percent to $493.9M and total shipments rose 8 percent to 74.7 million, according to the "Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report" by DisplaySearch.

Supply shift
DisplaySearch also reported that the shipment mix is changing, as active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs) had a 9.7 percent share of total revenues in Q3 07, which jumped to 41 percent in Q4 07.

"By Q1 08, DisplaySearch forecast AMOLEDs will represent 55.6 percent of total revenues as LG Display enters the AMOLED market and Chi Mei EL, Samsung SDI and Sony continue to ramp up," noted Barry Young, senior advisor, DisplaySearch.

Based on the report, Samsung SDI ranked first in terms of total revenue with $79.4 million, more than double than top two supplier RiTdisplay's $30.3 million revenues. RiTdisplay retained its lead in shipments at 6.6 million units with Samsung SDI following at 4.9M units. Meanwhile, Pioneer ranked third both in units and in shipments.

Sony shipped 2K 11inch displays for use in the XEL-1 in December and is expected to ship 6K panels in Q1 08.

Chi Mei EL increased its production of AMOLED panels, shipping 60,000 units in Q4 07 up from 16,000 in Q3 07.

Moreover, LG Display, formerly LG. Philips LCD, took over LGE's PMOLED fab and is expected to ship about 150,000 AMOLED panels in Q1 08 for use in the recently announced LG-SH150A.

"AMOLEDs are beginning to hit their stride in the small/medium market with Nokia, Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson all releasing products in Q4 07. We expect to see multiple product introductions in the next two quarters, and the panel size will jump to 2.6inch and larger compared to previously announced 2.2-2.4inch models," Young added.

Robust market
Due to a strong Q4, total OLED 2007 revenues hit a recird $493.9 million, led by Samsung SDI, RiTdisplay and Pioneer (Table 1). Showing strong results in microdisplays, eMagin slipped into the top five for the first time.

The top five OLED manufacturers in Q4 07—Samsung SDI, RiTdisplay, Pioneer, TDK and eMagin—accounted for a combined revenue market share of 91.9 percent (Table 2).

AMOLEDs are forecast to reach 3.1 million units in Q1 08, up from 1.7 million in Q4 07, driving total revenues up to $ 204.1 million.