PMOLED panels are getting more popular, particularly in the customization niche markets where order volumes are small and yet product designs are diverse, according to industry sources.

Additionally, narrowing price gaps between PMOLED and STN LCD have contributed to a growing trend for the former to replace the latter, said the sources, noting that the production cost per inch for PMOLED panels currently stands at US$1-2 compared to US$0.6 per inch for STN LCD.

Meanwhile, the competition in the PMOLED sector is also not as keen as that in the STN LCD or TFT LCD sectors because about 90% of the world's PMOLED market is currently dominated by four major makers - RiTdisplay and WiseChip Semiconductor in Taiwan, and Visionox and Truly Optoelectronics in China.

Other suppliers, including Pioneer, Futaba, and Nippon Seiki, are relatively small in the PMOLED panel sector, the sources noted.

Buoyed by the growing wearable device market, the market share of the PMOLED panels in the sub-3-inch display device market climbed to 18% in 2017 and will climb higher in 2018 and beyond, said the sources.

RiTdisplay said its PMOLED panels are mainly used for medical, industrial, automotive, networking and wearable applications currently. The company plans to ramp up its production capacity by 15-20% in 2019 in order to cash in on increasing demand from these sectors, according to company CEO DC Wang.

PMOLED replacing STN LCD