Applied Materials Q2 Display Equipment Sales Increased by 6 Times, Bolstered by OLED
Hyunjoo Kang / jjoo@olednet.com
Applied Materials is expected to show Q2 display manufacturing equipment sales increased by almost 6 times bolstered by OLED market growth.
Digitimes recently quoted Applied Materials’ greater China account general manager Kuo Yi-tze and reported that the company’s Q2 2016 order value for the display manufacturing equipment is estimated at USD 700 million. This is a 5.8 times increase compared to USD 120 million in Q2 2015.
Particularly, the demand by Korean panel companies, including Samsung Display and LG Display, is rapidly increasing. Furthermore, Chinese panel companies are also actively taking action to catch up to Korean panel companies’ technology and production ability.
Applied Materials estimates that the global shipment of mobile device OLED panel for smartphone, smartwatch, etc. will increase from 2016’s 353 million to 2020’s 799 million units. Furthermore, automotive OLED panel shipment is expected to increase from 2016’s 134 million to 2020’s 176 million units.
Applied Materials has seen orders for OLED equipment increasing, especially from South Korea-based panel makers, and its second-quarter 2016 order value for the display equipment segment is estimated at US$700 million, 5.8 times the US$120 million recorded for second-quarter 2015, according to Applied Materials’ greater China account general manager Kuo Yi-tze for AKT Display Business Unit.
South Korea-based panel makers take significantly lead in OLED technology and production and China-based fellow makers are making efforts to catch up, Kuo said.
Demand for OLED panels mainly comes from growing application to smartphones and smart watches, with global shipments of OLED panels used in mobile devices to increase from 353 million units in 2016 to 799 million units in 2020, Kuo indicated.
In addition, global shipments of OLED panels used in automotive displays will increase from 134 million units in 2016 to 176 million units in 2020, with a CAGR of 9% in unit shipments and 12% in area shipments during 2016-2020 Kuo noted.