Samsung’s OLED shouts shaking… IPhone mini sluggish, Galaxy M has a Chinese panel

Input 2021.03.23 06:00

Samsung OLED shipments 9% due to sluggish iPhone mini ↓
Samsung Electronics, BOE panel in China, installed on Galaxy M
Continued decline in market share… Samsung Display’s Crisis Theory Solsol

Due to the sluggishness of Apple’s iPhone 12 mini, Samsung Display’s small and medium-sized organic light-emitting diode (OLED) shipments in January decreased by 9% from the previous month. Samsung Electronics is planning to install Chinese BOE’s instead of Samsung Display’s OLED panels on the reason for cost reduction in the low-cost smartphone Galaxy M for the Indian market. There are concerns that Samsung Display, which had an absolute dominance of 80% or more in the small and medium-sized OLED market, may shake the shout.

According to market research firm Omdia on the 23rd, Samsung Display’s small- and medium-sized OLED shipments in January were 45 million units, down 9% compared to the previous month. Traditionally, it is worth considering that the first quarter of each year falls into a seasonally low season, but the industry view is that the sluggishness of the Apple iPhone 12 mini was decisive. Samsung Display is exclusively supplying the display of the iPhone 12 mini.

In January, shipments of small and medium-sized OLED panels for smartphones were 53 million units, down 9% from the previous month. The overall market was also sluggish due to the decline in shipments of Samsung Display, which accounts for 85% of the market. LG Display, the second largest in the industry, shipped 6 million OLED panels during the same period, and there was no significant change compared to delivery.

The decline in OLED panel shipments seems to have been partially affected by the recent shortage of semiconductor components. The supply and demand of display-related semiconductors such as display driving chips (DDI) have begun to be unbalanced. Omdia said, “Panel production has become unstable due to the lack of DDI supply in the semiconductor foundry industry.”

In addition, the recent advances in China’s BOE bolster Samsung Display’s prospects for weakening market dominance. BOE’s OLED panel shipments are still small, accounting for only 2% of the total panel shipments in January, but they are rapidly increasing their suppliers. It is predicted that a rapid increase in market share will occur soon.

According to the display industry, Samsung Electronics decided to use the BOE panel in some models of the Galaxy M, a low-cost smartphone to be released in the Indian market in the second half of this year. Previously, the Galaxy M51, which was unveiled in September last year, includes a display of CSOT in China, but the installation rate of Chinese-made displays is higher with the installation of BOE. An industry official said, “(This panel supply) means that BOE has matched the technology, quality, and price that Samsung Electronics demands.” “We will try to further increase the supply of panels for smartphones to Samsung Electronics.”

Samsung Electronics’ adoption of BOE is a painful part for Samsung Display. This is because price competition with BOE is inevitable in the future to win the supply of subsidiaries that have guaranteed some order volume. Price competition is expected to intensify even with CSOT, which is already supplying display panels to Galaxy M. In addition, there is a possibility that BOE, which has secured Samsung Display’s level of technology at a low price, will expand panel supply to Samsung Electronics’ flagship model Galaxy S in the future. Already, BOE is in charge of supplying the replacement display for the Apple iPhone 12, and its technology has been recognized to some extent.

Stock prices believe that BOE’s expansion of small and medium-sized OLEDs will have a negative impact on Samsung Display’s OLED facility investment as a result. Kim Hyun-soo, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, “Samsung Display’s facility investment strategy is cautious considering Samsung Electronics’ BOE panel installation and Chinese manufacturers’ increased utilization of flexible OLED panels.” It is at the level of offsetting the weakening of monopoly power at Apple and, so it is difficult to expect large-scale investment by expanding new customers.”