According to Sigmaintell, the global monitor panel market entered a new phase of "competition for market share" in 2025, influenced by multiple factors including tariff adjustments, supply chain restructuring, and technological advancements. The market is characterized by pressures on supply and demand, optimization of the competitive landscape, and technological breakthroughs. Data from Sigmaintell's global monitor panel shipment tracking shows that total worldwide monitor panel shipments reached approximately 164 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 2.1%, though the growth rate narrowed significantly compared to the previous year.
The primary drivers of market growth stem from three areas: commercial replacement demand in overseas and domestic markets driven by the end of support for Windows 10 and domestic IT innovation policies; gaming monitor purchase demand stimulated by domestic subsidy policies; and product mix upgrades propelled by panel technology iteration. At the same time, the monitor panel market faced certain pressures and challenges in 2025, mainly due to tariff policy adjustments and structural supply chain changes caused by overseas panel manufacturers scaling back their LCD businesses.
Looking ahead to 2026, continued release of commercial replacement demand and the extension of IT innovation policies will provide fundamental support for the overall market. However, shortages and price increases of memory chips may suppress growth in the gaming and all-in-one PC markets. According to Sigmaintell's forecast, global monitor panel shipments are expected to reach 163.4 million units in 2026, a slight decrease of 0.4% year-on-year.
**Technology Competition Trends: Technological Upgrades Become Core Focus in Share Competition, Sub-segment Divergence Intensifies** Although overall growth in the global monitor panel market was weak in 2025, technological upgrades remained the core theme of industry development, with significant divergence in sub-segment performance. LCD technology continued to dominate the market, with ongoing internal structural optimization. OLED accelerated its penetration, becoming a key growth driver in the mid-to-high-end segment. The gaming category maintained its rapid iteration trend, but growth in market demand is expected to slow. Oxide panel capacity reserves are sufficient, but growth potential has yet to be fully realized.
1. **LCD Panels: Market Dominance with Internal Divergence; IPS Penetration Stabilizes** As the core category of monitor panels, LCD shipments accounted for 98% of the market share in 2025, but performance varied significantly among internal sub-categories. IPS panels, leveraging their technical advantages to meet consumer and commercial market demands, saw their penetration rate expand further to 73%, becoming the mainstream choice. VA panels faced pressure from both ends, losing high-end market share to OLED and demonstrating weaker competitiveness than IPS in the mid-to-low-end segments, leading to a continuous decline in their market share. In 2026, affected by constrained supply from LGD, IPS panel capacity is expected to be limited, with penetration rates forecast to remain around 73%.
2. **OLED Panels: Rapid Penetration, Becoming Core Growth Driver in Mid-to-High-End Market** Global shipments of OLED monitor panels reached approximately 3.35 million units in 2025, with market penetration exceeding 2% for the first time, achieving substantial year-on-year growth and establishing itself as the most dynamic panel category. OLED panel shipments are projected to grow further to 5.1 million units in 2026, with penetration increasing to 3%. The core drivers are the active adoption of OLED by brands for high-end gaming and commercial models, with Korean and Taiwanese brands being particularly proactive in their布局.
3. **Gaming Panels: Profit Advantages Drive Growth; Memory Price Hikes Pose Potential Constraint** Global shipments of gaming monitor panels reached 38 million units in 2025, with market penetration rising to 23%, making it a key growth driver for the monitor panel market. However, shortages and price increases of memory chips pose a potential constraint on the growth of gaming panels, introducing uncertainty for the 2026 market performance.
4. **Oxide Panels: Sufficient Capacity Reserves, Low Utilization Rates, Awaiting Release of Growth Potential** Oxide technology is an important direction for the advancement of high-end LCD panels. Sigmaintell data indicates that global shipments of Oxide monitor panels reached approximately 12.6 million units in 2025, with a market penetration of about 7.8%. Currently, global Oxide panel capacity reserves are ample, but due to market demand and capacity allocation factors, overall utilization rates are only around 60%, meaning shipment volumes have not yet fully realized their potential, leaving significant room for future growth. In 2026, as market demand gradually increases, Oxide panel market penetration is expected to rise further to 8.6%.
**Panel Competitive Landscape: Mainland Chinese Manufacturers Establish Dominance; Share Expected to Exceed 70% in 2026** The competitive landscape of the global monitor panel market underwent a historic restructuring in 2025. With LGD strategically scaling back its LCD business and Taiwanese manufacturers gradually shifting towards niche markets due to cost and capacity pressures, Chinese mainland panel manufacturers significantly increased their market share to 67%, formally establishing a dominant position in the global market, thanks to their production scale, technological breakthroughs, and cost advantages.
In 2026, the trend of supply chain restructuring is expected to deepen further. Mainland Chinese manufacturers will encounter more structural growth opportunities, with their overall market share projected to exceed 70%, comprehensively dominating the global monitor panel supply. Performance among different manufacturer groups shows distinct divergence:
1. **Mainland Chinese Manufacturers: Tripartite Standoff with Impressive Growth** Chinese mainland panel manufacturers have formed a tripartite structure dominated by BOE, CSOT, and HKC. In 2025, each manufacturer demonstrated distinct highlights. In 2026, they are expected to further increase their shares by capitalizing on orders shifting from LGD. Meanwhile, Tianma, as a new entrant, maintains a relatively conservative business approach. * **BOE**: Sigmaintell data shows that BOE's shipments reached 49.2 million units in 2025, securing the top global position with a 30% market share, supported by stable cooperation with leading brands. In 2026, BOE is expected to continue absorbing panel orders from LGD's contraction, but limited by constraints in monitor panel capacity growth, its market increment will be limited, with its share forecast to increase slightly to 31%. * **CSOT**: Became the fastest-growing major manufacturer. Its shipments reached 35.1 million units in 2025, an increase of 5.2 million units year-on-year, securing the second global position with a 21% market share. Growth was primarily driven by the alignment of its IPS panel capacity release with market demand, with the T9 production line serving as the core capacity support. In 2026, with the ramp-up of the T11 IPS production line, CSOT is poised to be the primary beneficiary of orders shifting from LGD, with its market share expected to rise to 23%. * **HKC**: Affected by capacity bottleneck issues at its H4 production line in 2025, HKC's shipments reached 24.5 million units, ranking fourth globally with a 15% market share, as its scale growth entered a plateau phase. In 2026, HKC will actively work on resolving the H4 capacity bottleneck and optimizing its product and customer mix. The proportion of brand customers and the penetration of gaming and high-resolution products are expected to continue increasing. HKC is likely to secure a significant portion of orders shifting from LGD, with its market share projected to grow to 16%. * **Tianma**: As a new entrant in the monitor panel market, Tianma's full-year 2025 shipments reached 1.7 million units, capturing a 1% market share. Its monitor panel supply strategy remains relatively conservative, with more capacity倾斜 towards mid-size products like notebooks and tablets.
2. **Korean Manufacturers: Scaling Back LCD to Focus on OLED; Market Share Continues to Decline** Driven by group profitability goals, LGD accelerated the contraction of its monitor LCD business in 2025. According to Sigmaintell data, its annual shipments reached 25.4 million units, a contraction of 3.3 million units year-on-year, leading to a significant reduction in panel supply. Its market share fell further to 16% as it gradually shifts resources towards the OLED panel segment. In 2026, its LCD shipments are projected to contract by another 7 million units, while its OLED panel shipments are expected to increase to 1.3 million units. Its overall market share is forecast to decline further to 11%. Samsung Display (SDC) focuses on OLED panels. Its shipments of QD-OLED monitor panels grew steadily to 2.5 million units in 2025 and are projected to increase further to 3.8 million units in 2026.
3. **Taiwanese Manufacturers: Stable Performance, Shifting to Niche High-Margin Segments** Impacted by the cost and capacity advantages of mainland Chinese manufacturers, Taiwanese manufacturers are gradually reducing supply of mainstream specifications and shifting towards niche, high-margin segments. In the gaming panel sector, Innolux gained order transfers from brands like ASUS and TPV through product adjustments, leading to a slight increase in shipments. In contrast, AU Optronics (AUO) saw a year-on-year decline in gaming panel shipments. In 2025, AUO's shipments reached 18 million units, with its market share declining to 11%. Innolux's 2025 shipments reached 7.5 million units, maintaining a market share of around 5%. The shipment share of Taiwanese manufacturers is expected to remain stable in 2026.
**2026 Market Outlook: Deep Supply Chain Restructuring; Seizing Structural Opportunities and Improving Profitability as Core Strategies** In 2026, the global monitor panel market will continue its logic of competition for existing market share. Structural opportunities will become the primary focus for manufacturers. From a technological development perspective, the continued penetration of OLED panels will be the key growth line in the mid-to-high-end market, with active布局 by brand manufacturers further promoting the adoption of OLED technology. IPS panel penetration is expected to stabilize due to capacity constraints, while the decline of VA panels is difficult to reverse. Although the advancement of high-end LCD panels is supported by Oxide capacity, technical challenges related to applying oxide technology to the monitor market仍需解决.
Risks in the supply chain cannot be ignored. Shortages and price increases of memory chips will likely抑制 the performance of the key growth category—gaming panels—posing the greatest uncertainty for industry development in 2026.
In terms of the competitive landscape, the dominant position of mainland Chinese manufacturers will be further consolidated, with their market share expected to exceed 70%. BOE, CSOT, and HKC will leverage order transfers from LGD to further increase their shares, with CSOT benefiting the most due to capacity release from its new IPS production lines. Korean and Taiwanese manufacturers are accelerating their divergence into different tracks: Korean players focus on OLED to build technological barriers, while Taiwanese players seek survival space in niche, high-margin markets. The center of gravity for global monitor panel supply has officially shifted towards mainland Chinese manufacturers.
With the trend of supply concentration, and considering the current profitability differentials between monitor panel business and mainstream display panel businesses like TV and notebooks, Sigmaintell anticipates that global monitor panel manufacturers will place greater emphasis on improving profitability in their 2026 business strategies. Based on the profit potential of different monitor products and market demand characteristics, the profitability of entry-level and mainstream commercial IPS monitor panel products will become a key focus for manufacturers' supply strategies in 2026.
Overall, Sigmaintell believes that looking towards the 2026 monitor panel market, the depth of technological upgrades, capabilities in supply chain management, efficiency in capturing structural orders, and improvements in profitability will be the core factors determining each manufacturer's market strategy. The monitor panel market will gradually undergo a new round of industrial upgrading and structural reshaping amidst competition for existing share.
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