IHS has forecast that spending on flat panel display equipment will reach its highest peak since 2011 this year, at approximately €10.1 billion ($11.2 billion).
By 2017, the research provider estimates that sales of flat panel displays will be around the €10.4 billion ($11.6 billion) mark – a figure four times total sales in 2012.
IHS detailed that South Korea’s increase in facilities producing high numbers of active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panels for smartphones and China’s commitment to building new factories to produce a variety of displays and panels are the driving forces behind the prediction.
Charles Annis, senior director at IHS technology, added: “Ten different companies will be building 15 new factories in China over the next two years.” The country is expected to account for 70 percent of equipment spending in 2016 and 2017.
Within the next year AMOLED displays are expected to gain significant market share. The capacity for manufacturing over 300 million additional flexible AMOLEDs per year is estimated by 2018 to meet demand.
IHS state that this year 60 percent of spending on equipment will be used to build LCD-dedicated fabs and 40 percent will be invested in AMOLED or AMOLED-LCD dual use facilities. It expects the ratio of LCD to AMOLED fabs to reach parity by 2017.