A visitor interacts with Samsung Display's sensor OLED panel, which embeds organic photodiodes to read biometric data such as heart rate and blood flow directly through the screen, during SID Display Week 2026 in Los Angeles. (Samsung Display)
A visitor interacts with Samsung Display's sensor OLED panel, which embeds organic photodiodes to read biometric data such as heart rate and blood flow directly through the screen, during SID Display Week 2026 in Los Angeles. (Samsung Display)

Samsung Display and LG Display expanded their share of the global smartphone OLED panel market in the first quarter of 2026, even as the industry contracted, with Chinese competitors absorbing more than twice the volume decline as a memory chip price surge forced their smartphone customers to cut production.

Total smartphone OLED panel shipments fell 12 percent year-on-year to 190 million units in the first quarter, also down 20 percent from the previous quarter, Seoul-based market researcher UBI Research reported Tuesday. The firm attributed the contraction partly to the post-holiday off-season, but identified production cuts by smartphone brands grappling with surging DRAM and NAND prices as the dominant pressure on Chinese panel suppliers.

Samsung Display led the global smartphone OLED panel market with a 44.4 percent share in the first quarter of 2026, while the combined shipment decline of Korean makers was roughly half that of their Chinese rivals. (UBI Research)
Samsung Display led the global smartphone OLED panel market with a 44.4 percent share in the first quarter of 2026, while the combined shipment decline of Korean makers was roughly half that of their Chinese rivals. (UBI Research)

The combined shipments of Samsung Display and LG Display fell roughly 7 percent year-on-year. The four largest Chinese suppliers, taken together, declined about 17 percent.

Samsung Display held the top spot with a 44.4 percent share, up from 42.8 percent a year earlier. LG Display reached 9.0 percent, up from 7.6 percent. Both gained share despite lower absolute shipments.

The picture among Chinese makers was uneven. BOE held the largest Chinese share at 16.3 percent, and Visionox climbed to 10.7 percent from 9.3 percent. Tianma slid to 9.0 percent from 12.1 percent, and TCL CSOT dropped to 7.8 percent from 9.8 percent.

"The impact of production adjustments by Chinese smartphone brands amid rising memory prices is being reflected primarily among Chinese panel makers," UBI Research said.

LG Display's full-year outlook remains supported by Apple. UBI Research expects the company's iPhone panel shipments to grow from last year, with industry watchers anticipating an additional lift from the second-half launch of the iPhone 18 series.

By Moon Joon-hyun (mjh@heraldcorp.com)