OLEDs to account for $15bn of display technologies market in 2020

Smartphones alone will account for $13bn. The OLED market could grow as high as $26bn if Apple were to switch to OLED for its iPhones and iPads and OLED manufacturers could further bring down costs to enable wider adoption.

“The display industry will become fragmented as emerging displays take advantage of LCDs' limitations,” said Tony Sun, Analyst, Lux Research, and lead author of The Multi-Billion-Dollar Emerging Display Opportunities. "Suppliers to the industry will need to diversify their product portfolio to fit individual technologies’ needs."

OLEDs capture the greatest market share, while QDs have the highest CAGR

Lux Research analysts evaluated the emerging display technologies that will most impact traditional LCD market share and quantified individual markets. Among their findings:

• Quantum Dot (QD) is fastest-growing segment. Driven by adoption in televisions, QD LCDs will be the fastest-growing display technology, growing over 10-fold to $5.3bn in 2020. In a more favorable environment, the market could grow to as much as $11bn .  
• Flexible OLEDs will be worth $2.2bn. Flexible OLEDs – used primarily in smartphones and smartwatches, but also in televisions, tablets and virtual reality headgear – will grow eight-fold to a $2.2bn market in 2020. However, 92% of this market will come from OLEDs on flexible substrates incorporated into rigid devices. Truly foldable and rollable OLEDs will hit the market in 2018 and grow to $170m in 2020.
• E-reader decline will hit reflective displays. E-readers will drop by 40% from 2015 to 2020, crippling electrophoretic displays and other reflective displays commonly used in these devices. Nonetheless, reflective displays will be able to reach a $590m market in 2020, just above the current $560m, due to growth from emerging applications like signage, electronic shelf labels and wearables.