Rising appetite for premium gaming displays drives record OLED monitor sales
The global OLED monitor market is expected to surpass the $1 billion threshold for the first time this year, fueled by surging demand in gaming and premium content production segments, according to market tracker Omdia on Monday.
While Korea’s top two display makers — Samsung Display and LG Display — remain dominant players, Chinese panel makers are ramping up production to carve out more outstanding shares in this fast-growing segment. The intensifying rivalry is prompting domestic manufacturers to double down on innovation and production capacity to maintain their competitive edge.
Omdia estimates that the OLED monitor segment will generate about $1.11 billion in revenue this year — a dramatic increase from just $75.2 million in 2022. Shipments are projected to soar to 3.16 million units, marking an almost 20-fold surge from the 160,000 units shipped two years ago.
OLED panels for monitors offer superior image clarity, higher refresh rates and faster response times compared to conventional LCDs, making them especially suitable for gaming monitors, as well as monitors used in broadcasting and film production.
Industry watchers say that the explosive market expansion is largely driven by the strong appetite for high-performance gaming monitors.
According to separate data from IDC, while the global monitor market contracted last year, the gaming monitor segment bucked the trend, growing 21.8 percent in revenue from $5.88 billion to $7.16 billion. Within that, OLED gaming monitors witnessed a 2.5-fold increase in sales — from $485 million to $1.23 billion.
Amid the growing market momentum, Chinese manufacturers are entering the fray. Leveraging production expertise honed in the LCD segment, players like TCL and EDO have begun mass-producing OLED panels, aiming to gain market share through price competitiveness.
Samsung Display remains the market leader, with an estimated 76.5 percent market share in the first quarter, according to Omdia. The company continues to lead with its QD-OLED technology, which combines the deep blacks of OLED with the rich color accuracy and wide viewing angles enabled by quantum dots.
Samsung’s OLED monitor panel shipments are expected to surpass 2 million this year, up over 50 percent from last year. The firm introduced the world’s first 27-inch QHD OLED monitor with a 360-hertz refresh rate last year and plans to unveil a 500Hz model — the highest refresh rate on any OLED monitor to date — in the first half of this year.
Additionally, the tech giant is expanding its presence in the IT OLED market, including laptops and tablets, by increasing investment in new production lines and strengthening partnerships with major global tech firms, including Apple.
Trailing behind Samsung, LG Display is estimated to hold a 23.1 percent market share as of the first quarter of this year. The company recently began mass production of a 45-inch gaming OLED panel featuring its dynamic frequency and resolution technology.
Omdia forecasts that LG’s OLED monitor panel shipments will more than double this year, rising from 280,000 in 2023 to 690,000 in 2025.
Sources say Korean display makers are broadening their OLED focus beyond smartphones to IT devices, monitors and automotive displays, aiming to widen the technology’s market footprint before latecomer rivals can gain a foothold.
“As consumer demand grows and panel makers continue to advance their technology, set manufacturers are expanding OLED lineups beyond premium tiers,” said an industry source, who asked for anonymity. “The trend will likely accelerate the shift from LCD to OLED across a wider spectrum of products.”
By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)
