Calls are growing for stronger policy support to underpin the growth of Korean companies as China accelerates its pursuit in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) market, the flagship product of Korea's display industry. The subsidy-backed "volume offensive" China used to erode the liquid crystal display (LCD) market in the past is being repeated in the OLED market, raising concerns that Korea could completely cede leadership of the display industry to China if government-wide policy support is delayed.
According to an issue report titled "The Competitiveness of K-OLED and Strategies to Maintain Its Decisive Lead," published Friday by the Institute for International Economics at the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea's global OLED market share fell to 68.7% in 2025 from 87.3% in 2020. By contrast, China's OLED market share rose sharply to 31.2% from 12.1% over the same period.
China's share in the small and mid-sized panel market, which carries higher added value, surged to 35%. Considering that China's small and mid-sized share was only 1.5% in 2017, the pace of growth is formidable.
The Export-Import Bank diagnosed that the technology gap between Korea and China in OLED for information technology (IT) devices such as tablets and laptops, previously assessed at three to four years, has now narrowed to one to two years. While Korea still holds an edge in mass production technology and quality, the report points out that China is raising its technological maturity through continued aggressive capital investment, meaning Korea could lose its lead even in OLED if it slows the pace of research and development (R&D).
China's fierce pursuit is also confirmed in research by major market research firms. Iris Hu, an analyst at TrendForce, said at "TrendForce Roadshow Korea 2026," held in Samseong-dong, Seoul, in April, that "set (finished product) makers such as Taiwan's Acer and Asus, which are desperate to cut costs amid rising memory component prices, are expanding their adoption of Chinese-made OLED panels in their mid- to low-priced laptop brands." She analyzed that "this trend is serving as a support that boosts the process utilization rates and technological proficiency of Chinese panel makers."
However, some assessments note that as the display industry shifts toward an "order-based business structure" centered on OLED, an environment favorable to Korea — which has filed the most related patents — has been created. Unlike LCD, where a "chicken game" was possible under standardized specifications, OLED operates on a "order-first, production-later" basis tailored to the required specifications of global set makers such as Apple and Samsung. As a result, the volume of accumulated original technology and patents held acts as a key variable determining order competitiveness.
In "tandem OLED" (a vertically stacked structure of organic light-emitting layers), considered an industry game-changer, LG Display (034220.KS) holds the most patent applications in the industry at 348 (on a U.S. basis), with Samsung Display closely behind at 173.
Experts agree, however, that this is no time to relax. Display is a capital-intensive industry where initial capital investment reaches trillions of won. Samsung Display began full operation of its 8.6-generation OLED panel production line, built two years ago with an investment of 4.1 trillion won, starting in the second quarter of this year. China's BOE also plans to start operating its 8.6-generation OLED production line from the third quarter in step with this move.
In the report, the Export-Import Bank noted that "while there is still a gap in mass production technology and quality, there is a risk that China will continue aggressive capital investment to raise its technological maturity and mount a volume offensive," adding that "if Korea slows the pace of R&D, it could be overtaken by China in OLED as well."
It explained that "the OLED technology gap between Korea and China was initially estimated to have narrowed to one to 1.5 years, but it has been reassessed at one to two years after the limits of the technological reliability of Chinese firms were exposed," adding that "since OLED TV panels are mass-produced only in Korea, China is expected to find it difficult to catch up with Korea in the short term."
