According to a report from Omdia, global shipments of display driver ICs (DDICs) are projected to decrease by 1% year-over-year in 2025, with stabilization anticipated in 2026. This outlook reflects structural shifts in demand for TV panels, as well as pressure on IT and smartphone display demand due to memory shortages. In 2025, LCD TV panel shipments are expected to grow by 1% year-over-year, primarily driven by strong demand for smaller sizes such as 32-inch and 43-inch products. However, limited growth in 4K and higher-resolution panels has constrained DDIC demand in the TV segment. As a result, demand for LCD TV DDICs is forecast to decline by 8% year-over-year, mainly due to increased adoption of dual-rate drive (DRD) and triple-rate drive (TRD) technologies, along with lower-than-expected shipments of 4K and higher-resolution panels. In other application areas, DDIC demand for monitors, notebooks, and automotive displays showed growth, while tablet and AMOLED smartphone DDIC performance fell short of expectations. AMOLED smartphone DDIC shipments increased by only 1% year-over-year, while LCD smartphone DDIC shipments also grew by 1%. Looking ahead to 2026, LCD TV DDIC demand is expected to rebound by 4% year-over-year, supported by growth in shipments of 4K and higher-resolution panels. However, overall global DDIC demand is projected to remain flat, as a decline in IT application demand offsets recovery in the TV market. Memory shortages and related price increases are expected to limit AMOLED smartphone DDIC growth to 0% year-over-year and slow the transition from LTPS LCD to AMOLED smartphones, leading to a 2% year-over-year decline in total smartphone DDIC shipments. Starting in 2027, AMOLED smartphone DDICs are expected to resume average annual growth of around 3%, while the decline in LCD smartphone DDICs will be less severe than previously anticipated. On the supply side, capacity trends vary among wafer foundries. Due to a surge in demand for power management ICs (PMICs), foundries in Taiwan and South Korea are reducing capacity allocation for large-panel DDICs, which cover TVs, monitors, notebooks, and applications of 9 inches and above. Meanwhile, mainland Chinese foundries continue to expand large-panel DDIC capacity. As a result, total large-panel DDIC capacity is expected to grow by 10% year-over-year in 2025. Jiang Yuyang, Senior Analyst for Display Driver IC Research at Omdia, stated, "Overall supply capacity for large-panel DDICs in 2026 is expected to remain largely at 2025 levels, indicating that the market may still face oversupply. However, capacity distribution will be uneven: foundries with high PMIC order volumes may experience tight DDIC capacity, prompting necessary price increases."
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