China-manufactured smart watch OLED shipment share exceeds 60% in 1H24

LONDON, June 6, 2024 -- Smartwatch, with functionalities including phonetics, health checks, sports and activity tracking, GPS, communication and personal data monitoring, have gained increased attention post COVID-19. Global smartwatch display shipments have grown from 259 million units in 2022 to 351 million units in 2023. In 2024, Omdia forecasts that smartwatch display shipments will reach 359 million units, with TFT LCD accounting for 63% and OLED for 37%.

Smartwatch AMOLED shipment share (percentage)

Smartwatch OLED represents the middle to high-end market segment due to their superior visibility, higher contrast ratio, thin and light form factor and lower power consumption. Chinese OLED makers have concentrated on the smartwatch OLED market and are now expanding their customer base while enhancing their manufacturing capabilities.

According to the Omdia Small and Medium Display Market Tracker, LG Display is leading the smartwatch OLED market primarily supplying to Apple Watch, while Chinese OLED makers have been increasing their market share since 2023. In the first half of 2024, LG Display, EverDisplay (EDO) and Tianma are projected to collectively account for 53% shipment share in 1H24, and China OLED makers are expected to account for 64%.

LG Display and Japan Display supply high-end flexible OLED panels with LTPO backplane for the Apple Watch, while Samsung Display provides OLED for the Samsung Galaxy Watch. However, Chinese OLED makers such as EverDisplay, Tianma, Visionox, BOE and Truly are expanding their OLED panel shipments thanks to the design win in smart watch device brands such as Fitbit, Garmin, BBK, Honor, OPPO, Xiaomi and Google. Meanwhile, there is an increasing adoption of in OLED panels in non-branded whitebox smartwatches.

"China TFT LCD makers such as BOE have dominated the smartwatch TFT LCD segment thanks to their extensive resources and successful customer design wins. Meanwhile, Chinese OLED makers are establishing their presence in the smartwatch OLED market. With the integration of AI functions in to help smartwatch power efficiency, OLEDs are expected to play a vital role in the smartwatch supply chain. This is particularly significant as some of the leading smartwatch brands are holding off on adopting micro-LED display due to their high cost and production challenges," commented David Hsieh, Senior Research Director in Omdia's Displays practice.

"Moreover, we are seeing smart watch OLED makers are continuously updating their technology roadmap to further reduce power consumption, enhance visibility and improve durability. China OLED makers are becoming increasingly important in the development of these advanced specification roadmaps."

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Fasiha Khan Fasiha.khan@omdia.com