Samsung Electronics' first passport-style foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold8, is reportedly facing tight display driver IC (DDI) supply as demand exceeds expectations. Samsung has continued to raise component orders, but the related 22nm process capacity at United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has reached its limit.
China's optical display industry is cooling after years of aggressive panel fab construction that has reshaped the global display landscape. Investments in China's optical display sector fell 80.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, underscoring a slowdown in capacity expansion with capital now shifting toward optical materials and mini/micro LED (MLED) displays.
Price wars. Capacity races. Years of losses steep enough to earn a lasting nickname.
Chinese panel makers' investment in next-generation OLED production is beginning to translate into reported sales at South Korean equipment suppliers, with several vendors posting sharp first-half revenue gains and large order backlogs providing further visibility as new Chinese fabs move through installation and ramp-up.
TCL has reportedly stopped using OLED panels from its own TCL CSOT unit as it expands its monitor lineup, instead turning again to LG Display (LGD), while Asus is said to have halted use of BOE Technology Group (BOE) OLED panels after about one month. The moves underscore a growing gap in high-end OLED technology led by South Korean panel makers.
BOE Technology Group and 3M have opened a joint research laboratory in Beijing that covers optical films, optically clear adhesives, structural adhesives and advanced materials development for LCD, OLED and MLED panels — turning what has been a roughly two-decade partnership into a shared development platform.
The global small-size OLED market was flat in the second quarter of 2026 as seasonal weakness and cautious inventory management by Chinese device makers slowed demand. Samsung Display, however, outperformed the market on stronger shipments of foldable phone panels.
Largan Precision, the world's largest maker of smartphone camera lenses and a longtime supplier of lenses for Apple's iPhone, said on August 25 it would buy land and buildings in Taichung's Nantun district for NT$3.08 billion (approx. US$98 million). It is the company's fourth industrial property purchase in two months.
Samsung Display has resumed construction at its second campus in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, reviving a long-dormant OLED project just as the foldable smartphone market is expected to swing from a weak first half of 2026 to a stronger second half.
TPK Holding is accelerating its move from consumer touch panels into semiconductors, with its Through Glass Via (TGV) pilot line in Taoyuan, Taiwan set to begin operations in August or September. The company is also working with leading outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers on the project, while its new Thailand production base aims to complete trial runs by year-end and begin volume production in early 2027.
Iris Optronics, a manufacturer of cholesteric liquid crystal display (ChLCD) e-paper, announced upgrades to its Infinity solar-powered ChLCD e-paper series, including a mass-producible 31.5-inch large-format outdoor commercial display. It has also developed an embedded perovskite-powered ChLCD e-paper solution for indoor commercial display applications.
More coverage
