Global revenues for OLED panels are expected to hit an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2020, reaching nearly $12 billion, on the strength of smartphones as well as TVs and watches. That’s according to numbers released this week by Digital Supply Chain Consultants. 

According to DSCC’s Quarterly OLED Shipment Report, the OLED revenue had approached $9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 but had only hovered as high as a little over $8 million throughout 2018, 2019 and the first part of 2020. 

However, the big change has been smartphone revenue, especially due to the timing of the all-OLED 2020 iPhone lineup arriving on the market in the fourth quarter rather than the third. And thanks to the lack of an iPhone in the third quarter, OLED revenue in that quarter dropped nine percent year over year in the third quarter.

In fact, smartphone OLED revenue was seen at just under $10 million, which on its own would have been the most ever. Overall, OLED revenue is expected to experience a 51 percent year-over-year jump from the 2019 fourth quarter to this year’s fourth quarter.

“Like many other things in the electronics industry, the Q3 2020 and Q4 2020 numbers have been affected by the timing of Apple’s iPhone 12 model releases which were all OLED for the first time. Q4’20 also benefited from the pull-in of the Samsung S21 series by a month with panel shipments starting in November rather than December,” the report said.

When it comes to brands, Apple leads with just under 60 percent of OLED smartphone panel revenue, followed by Samsung, Huawei and Oppo.

“The later Apple release dates depressed OLED panel shipment sales in Q3 and accelerated sales in Q4. OLED panel revenues in Q3 2020 totaled $8.0 billion, down 3.3% Y/Y, while our estimate for Q4 2020 shows revenues at $11.9 billion, up 46% compared to Q4 2019.”

But it wasn’t just phones. OLED TV panel revenues, per DSCC, are forecast to reach $959 million, an all-time high, and an increase of 28 percent over the same quarter the year before. Such revenues had jumped in the third quarter, once LG Display got its Guangzhou, China, facility online. And smartwatch panel revenue is expected to jump 34 percent in the fourth quarter to $798 million, as that category continues its notable growth. 

“In Q4 2020 we expect OLED panel shipments across all applications to increase by 37% Y/Y to 224 million, as the growth in smartphones, TV and smartwatch is nearly evenly spread at 38%, 50% and 34%, respectively,” DSCC said in the report.

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for the National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters