The mass production of the long-anticipated 8K resolution TV sets will formally begin the second half of this year. WitsView, a division of TrendForce, reports that a Taiwanese panel maker is first to be approved by international TV brands as a supplier of 8K TV panels. TV brands hope that the market release of 8K TV sets will generate interests among consumers in the near future.
The latest large-size LCD panel shipment report by WitsView, a division of TrendForce, says shipments of LCD TV panels totaled 22.8 million units in July, representing a 5% increase from June and a 2.2% year-on-year increase. As the TV market enters the peak sales season, branded TV vendors are focusing on stocking up for their promotional activities. Rising panel prices are also spurring them to replenish their inventories. Consequently, the surge of demand in the TV panel market has begun earlier than usual.
Following LCD and AMOLED, micro-LED has emerged as the next-generation display technology that is expected to be deployed widely in various applications. Increasing interests from electronics giants Apple and Sony during the recent period have encouraged further investments in micro-LED and accelerated the timetable for its commercialization. The latest analysis from LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, forecasts that micro-LED displays for smart wearable devices will enter the mass production stage in 2018. The technology will become available for smartphones later in 2020.
Demand for AMOLED panels has taken off as there are strong indications that Apple will introduce AMOLED display to the iPhone series in 2017. The latest research from WitsView, a division of TrendForce, anticipates that the AMOLED penetration rate in the global smartphone market will surpass 20% by the end of this year and reach 40% in 2019.
The AMOLED technology is rapidly gaining acceptance in the smartphone and wearable device markets. In addition to having a wide color gamut, AMOLED panels expand the range of design options for displays because they can be made on substrates that are light, thin and flexible. On the other hand, the adoption of AMOLED in the tablet market has been tepid even though tablets also have similar weight and thickness requirements as other mobile devices. The penetration rate of AMOLED-equipped products in the total tablet shipments worldwide for 2015 was 2.5%, according to the latest research by WitsView, a division of TrendForce.
