Curved Monitor Shipment Projected to Exceed 12 Million Units in 2020 Thanks to Surging Gaming Demand, Says TrendForce

Owing to excellent sales performances of curved gaming monitors and Samsung’s aggressive promotional push, curved monitor shipment is projected to reach 12.86 million units in 2020, a 24% increase YoY, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations.

TrendForce analyst Anita Wang indicates that the curved monitor market is both hypercompetitive and highly concentrated, in terms of having very few monitor brands and display panel suppliers. Furthermore, since the manufacturing process is more complex for curved monitors than for flat screen monitors, enormous experience in the industry is required to achieve a high yield rate. Regarding the ranking of manufacturers’ curved monitor shipment in 2020, Samsung ranks first, supported by its in-house manufacturing facilities and by SDC’s panel capacities. AOC/Philips ranks second in shipment, due to the companies’ in-house manufacturing competencies and vast experience in the industry, as well as high sales performances of their curved gaming monitors. Third-ranked MSI is focused on the high-end curved gaming monitor segment. Despite the lack of in-house manufacturing capacities, MSI’s curved monitors are equipped with high-performance specs and features; as well, the company offers a comprehensive line of gaming products. MSI also released its products to coincide with the start of curved gaming monitors’ popularity in the market. MSI and Samsung are neck and neck in curved gaming monitor market share. The above three competitors (Samsung, AOC/Philips, and MSI) are projected to occupy almost 70% market share collectively in 2020.

With regards to display panel suppliers, SDC’s recent efforts in expanding its presence in the curved monitor and gaming monitor markets have been successful. In 2019, Samsung reached an 81% share in the VA curved monitor market, but the company subsequently decided to exit the market despite its leading performance. The curved monitor supply chain is expected to be impacted in 2021 as a result of Samsung’s exodus. On the other hand, second- and third-ranked curved panel suppliers AUO and CSOT are gearing up to dominate the market left by Samsung, while emerging panel supplier HKC has expressed its intention to do the same.

TrendForce believes that, as SDC drastically reduces its supply of curved display panels in 2021, whether other suppliers can step up to meet the market demand remains to be seen. As such, TrendForce expects curved monitor shipment to undergo its first decrease in 2021.