MP3 players, subdisplays driving growth of OLED market - report

OLEDs are still a negligible portion of the overall display market, but manufacturers are increasing their pace as more and more applications are quickly adapting the technology.

According to a report released by Displaysearch, 16.7 million OLEDs were shipped in the third quarter of this year and brought about $130.9 million in revenues. This represents a shipment growth of 144 percent year over year with revenues climbing 49 percent.

Especially MP3 players turned out to be the driving force behind OLEDs, increasing shipments 26-fold to 8.3 million devices in Q3. The segment surpassed the already strong subdisplay market, which gained 30 percent to 7.7 million screens. Strong growth was also experienced for OLEDs targeting automotive applications (53 percent to 432,000 units).

Samsung achieved $37.1 million in OLED revenues during the quarter and currently is the largest manufacturer in this segment. RitDisplay follows with $26.8 million and Pioneer with $17.9 million.