Sales of OLED-based monitors continue to grow at a rampant pace, far exceeding what even the experts had forecast.
That’s according to TrendForce, one of the experts, which said early last year that it foresees OLED monitor sales quadrupling in 2023 and then doubling to over one million in 2024.
However, Anita Wang, an analyst at TrendForce, said in an updated report that, in fact, OLED monitor sales are likely to surpass 1.44 million units this year, representing growth of 181% compared to a year earlier. She added that “strong growth is expected to continue in the coming years.
While rising OLED monitor sales may not be a surprise to anyone following the industry, the fact that Samsung Electronics sits at the top of the pile is more of an eye-opener.
The company’s dominant position among OLED monitor makers stems from its QD-OLED technology, which has fast become the favorite display tech among video game enthusiasts.
"Samsung is expected to secure the top spot owing to strong sales of its 49-inch OLED monitors and a steady pipeline of new product releases," Wang said.
Samsung launched a trio of new QD-OLED monitors at CES 2024, including the G6, G8 and G9 Odyssey displays, which are widely regarded as some of the best products for video gamers. The G9 is the 49-inch ultrawide monitor Wang spoke of, while the G8 is a 32-inch model and the G6 measures 27-inches.
Other brands selling OLED-based monitors include LG Electronics, whose products utilize the company’s own WOLED technology, and Acer, Asus, Gigabyte, Sony, Alienware, HP, AOC and MSI, who all offer a mix of both QD-OLED and WOLED displays in their product lineups.
Next year, we may see the emergence of a third kind of OLED display technology, namely RGB OLED, which was being developed by Japan OLED, a company that went bankrupt earlier this year but is now being resurrected by TCL CSOT.
It’s not clear if we’ll see any RGB OLED monitors arrive next year, but we can expect to see significant improvements in QD-OLED and WOLED. Samsung Display is reportedly planning to launch a 27-inch, 500Hz QD-OLED display next year, which would have the fastest refresh rate of any monitor currently available. At present, the fastest gaming monitors max out at 480Hz and are based on LG’s WOLED tech.
Meanwhile, LG Display is planning to release the first-ever 45-inch WOLED monitor displays next year, featuring a new and improved pixel structure that promises to enhance text rendering.
For now, these new developments are just rumors, though they come from solid sources. But in any case, TrendForce fully expects OLED monitors to continue their rise and take more market share from other technologies, like Mini-LED, in the years to come.
Wang said OLED’s growth is being driven by multiple brands adopting QD-OLED, and said the tech is likely to increase its share OLED monitor shipments to 73% this year, up from 53.5% in 2023.
“In contrast, WOLED’s market share is forecast to decline to 26%, with RGB OLED accounting for just 1%,” Wang added.
