Samsung Display said on the 9th that cumulative shipments of its quantum dot (QD)-organic light-emitting diode (OLED) monitors surpassed 5 million units. The milestone came in March, about four years after Samsung Display began mass-producing QD-OLEDs for monitors.
Samsung Display succeeded in the world's first mass production of QD-OLEDs at the end of 2021. From 2021 to 2025, it recorded an average annual growth rate of more than 320%. After reaching cumulative shipments of 1 million units in May 2024, it recorded 5 million units shipped in less than two years.
QD-OLED is a technology that internalizes quantum dots (QD) in the display. Nanometer-sized semiconductor particles absorb light energy and convert it back into light of a specific wavelength. Unlike conventional large OLEDs, which realize color with a separate color filter, QD-OLED converts light from a blue OLED into red and green light in the QD emitting layer.
Its advantage is expressing highly pure colors due to the optical characteristics of quantum dots. It is rated excellent in color accuracy as well as color volume and color luminance. It also disperses light widely, providing a wide viewing angle, and its response time is outstanding.
According to market research firm Omdia, the share by revenue of products with self-emissive panels in the premium monitor market priced at $500 and above is projected to expand from 22% in 2024 to 41% in 2026. Samsung Display recorded a 75% share by shipments last year in self-emissive displays for monitors. Working with 20 global customers including Acer, Philips, Asus, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, MSI, and Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display has launched more than 150 QD-OLED monitor models to the market.
Recently, it launched a 34-inch 360 Hz QD-OLED with a "V (vertical)-stripe" pixel structure that improves text legibility, and is supplying it in earnest to global monitor manufacturers. It developed QuantumBlack™, a low-reflection, high-strength film that reduces screen light reflection by 20% compared with conventional films while increasing panel hardness. This film will be applied to new QD-OLED monitors released this year.
Son Dong-il, head of the large display division (executive vice president) at Samsung Display, said, "The rapid growth and overwhelming market share of QD-OLED stem from unrivaled image quality and product quality competitiveness, as well as stable production capacity," and added, "We will continue to introduce differentiated technologies and products closely aligned with customers and the market, reshaping the dynamics and trends of the monitor market and leading the technology transition."