Omdia: OLED display demand for tablet PC will grow to 35 million units by 2031

LONDON, May 9, 2024 -- New research from Omdia indicates shipments of OLED displays for tablet PCs are expected to increase to 35.0 million units by 2031. Notably, the shipment share of hybrid OLEDs for tablet PCs is expected to rise significantly in this timeframe, reaching 85.1%.

OLED display shipment forecast for tablet PC

The OLED display market is forecasted to experience renewed growth from 2024, primarily driven by the demand of Apple's iPad Pro series. From February 2024, LG Display and Samsung Display have been supplying their OLED panels for the Apple iPad Pro series (11-inch and 13-inch), which was launched in the second quarter of 2024.

"Apple utilizes hybrid OLED for the iPad Pro series which is characterized by a glass substrate and thin-film encapsulation," said Jerry Kang, Research Manager in Omdia's Displays research practice. "The advantages of hybrid OLED include achieving a more stable yield rate and lower manufacturing costs compared to flexible OLED used to manufacture large sized displays. Essentially, the hybrid OLED is thinner and lighter than rigid OLED, offering more space for other electronic components and the device's battery.

For the past decade, almost all OLED displays for tablet PCs were manufactured using rigid OLED and RGB single OLED stack technology, similar to smartphone OLED displays. However, Apple has been utilizing flexible OLED for its iPhone series since 2017. As a result, Apple seems to be enhancing the performance of OLED displays for its iPad series with the innovative OLED structure.

"Apple also applies RGB tandem OLED stack for the iPad Pro series featuring two layers of each R/G/B OLED emitting materials," Kang said. "The advantages of RGB tandem OLED stack are to achieve approximately twice the brightness and four times the lifetime theoretically, compared to the RGB single OLED stack. While RGB tandem OLED stack has been deployed in automotive OLED since 2018, its adoption is expected significantly increase with this opportunity."

Omdia forecasts that the hybrid OLED structure and RGB tandem OLED stack for iPad Pro will serve as a catalyst for other device brands and panel suppliers. This will lead to the rise of various technology combinations in OLED display. Consequently, these developments will drive competition in the OLED display market for next decade.

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Omdia, part of Informa Tech, is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets combined with our actionable insights empower organizations to make smart growth decisions.

Fasiha Khan Fasiha.khan@omdia.com