LG Display, which controls the market by supplying 100 percent of large OLEDs, also fared well in the OLED market for smartphones in the fourth quarter of last year. This was due to the fact that it started supplying its products to Apple's iPhones in earnest.
According to market research firm IHS Markit's tally on March 12, LG Display ranked second in the fourth quarter of last year after Samsung Display with 10.8 percent of global market share (based on sales).
The figure jumped more than 8 percentage points compared with a 2.1 percent share in the third quarter. Even on an annual basis, its share stood at 4.8 percent last year, nearly doubling from 2.5 percent in 2018.
LG Display is known to have delivered 4.4 million OLED panels in the fourth quarter, starting from the third quarter of last year by supplying 600,000 OLED panels to Apple.
LG Display delivered a similar amount to Huawei last year, and some to LG Electronics.
"Samsung Electronics, Apple, and Huawei are the companies that make smartphones out of OLEDs, and LG Display can deliver some parts to Apple and Huawei." said Kwon Seong-ryul, a researcher at DB Financial Investment.
He said, "Since diversifying sources of procurement of components is a cost-benefit for smartphone manufacturers, they have no choice but to continue to look for alternatives for Samsung Display."
