Crowd Wisdom Consultation: Q1 global OLED smartphone panel shipments are approximately 200 million units, with "polarized" demand driving evident growth.

According to data from the Group Intelligence Consulting, in the first quarter of 2026, the global OLED smartphone panel shipments are approximately 200 million pieces, an increase of about 4.7% year-on-year. Among them, flexible OLED shipments are about 170 million pieces, an increase of about 19.3% year-on-year. There is a "polarized" growth demand, mainly driven by two core factors: first, the strong procurement demand of top manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung, driving a substantial increase in flexible OLED panel shipments; second, Chinese panel manufacturers have significantly increased shipments to the smartphone repair market, becoming an important source of incremental growth in the first quarter. Rigid OLED is continuously replaced by flexible OLED products, with shipments in the first quarter of about 36 million pieces, a year-on-year decrease of 32.9%, and market demand continues to shrink. Benefiting from strong demand from Apple and Samsung, the market share of South Korean shipments has rebounded, and the leading domestic players are steadily advancing. In 2026, the global smartphone panel market has entered a period of pressure, with a significant increase in memory chip prices pushing up overall device costs, overall weak terminal demand, and the industry facing both quantity and price pressure. Against this backdrop, the competitive landscape of global flexible OLED has reached a crucial turning point: South Korea's flexible OLED market share will rise. Group Intelligence Consulting data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, South Korea's flexible OLED market share is about 42.8%, an increase of about 8 percentage points year-on-year, as South Korean manufacturers consolidate their leading position with high-end customer demand and technological barriers. The core driver of the rise in South Korea's flexible OLED share in 2026 comes from the increase in demand for flexible OLED from Apple and Samsung Electronics. The combined demand for flexible OLED panels from these two major brands exceeded 50 million pieces, with all core suppliers being South Korean manufacturers, directly driving up South Korean shipments and market share. Although Chinese mainland flexible OLED manufacturers have entered Samsung Electronics' supply chain, obtaining orders for the A57 project and intentions for the S series standard version project, the current supply scale of Chinese flexible OLED panel manufacturers to Apple and Samsung Electronics is still limited, making it difficult to offset the impact of the overall decline in Android demand. Specific manufacturer performance is as follows: Samsung Display (SDC): In the first quarter of 2026, OLED panel shipments were approximately 84 million pieces, with flexible OLED shipments of about 55 million pieces, a significant year-on-year increase of 52.2%. The core driving factor was Apple's strong procurement in the first quarter, with SDC supplying about 14 million more phone panels to Apple compared to the first quarter of 2025. BOE: BOE shipped approximately 42 million flexible OLED panels in the first quarter of 2026, showing a year-on-year growth trend, maintaining the number one position in China and the number two position globally. They continue to lead in high-end display technologies such as Tandem and BT2020, while actively expanding the repair market to ensure operational stability and solid management. Tianma: Tianma shipped approximately 21 million flexible OLED panels in the first quarter of 2026, ranking third globally and second in China. Tianma's flexible OLED has steadily entered the flagship supply chains of multiple top brands, and they exclusively supply multiple high-end flagship models, aiming to deepen cooperation with brand customers through reliable quality and rapid response capabilities. Visionox Technology Inc. (Visionox): In the first quarter of 2026, OLED shipments were approximately 19 million pieces, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%. Of these, flexible OLED shipments were approximately 16 million pieces, a significant year-on-year increase of 23.7%. As a global leader in VIP OLED technology, they achieved mass production shipments to brand customers in the first quarter of 2026, completing the entire cycle from initial technology launch to commercial deployment, opening up a new technological path for the flexible OLED industry. In an environment of weakening industry demand and intensified price competition, Chinese mainland manufacturers are responding to the impact by expanding into the repair market, extreme cost reduction, early production, and other means, but they also face high inventory pressures. According to Group Intelligence Consulting forecasts, global demand for flexible OLED repairs is expected to reach 80-90 million pieces in 2026, becoming a key support for stable shipments and operations of domestic manufacturers. With current downward terminal demand, the challenges are becoming increasingly severe. It is important for panel manufacturers to return to rational competition, focusing on technological innovation, quality improvement, and efficiency optimization, in order to collectively maintain a stable and orderly market pricing system and drive the global flexible OLED industry from a scale advantage to a high-quality, sustainable competitive advantage.