LG Display has quickly established itself as the top supplier for smartwatch display panels. Market research firm DisplaySearch found that the South Korean company accounted for 90 percent of overall revenues and 66.8 percent of shipment volumes (some 8 million panels) in Q1 2015. Its success is attributed to the fact that it is one of only two manufacturers capable of producing plastic organic light-emitting diode (P-OLED) displays, the most commonly used display technology in smartwatches.
The overall smartwatch display market was worth US$204 million in Q2 2015. LG Display took in US$186 million of that, leaving US$6.3 million for Samsung Display in second place and US$4.8 million for Japan Display and US$3.7 million for Futaba Corp. behind.
LG Display’s shipment volumes jumped seven-fold between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. It’s likely that much of that jump is due to the launch of the Apple Watch last month.
LG Display is the exclusive supplier of P-OLED panels to Apple. It also provides panels to parent company LG for the new LG Watch Urbane. Its near complete dominance will be tested in the coming quarters though as Samsung Display is expected to begin providing panels for the Apple Watch, putting an end to LG’s exclusive deal.
Source : Yonhap News Agency