It's difficult to say for sure whether a single automotive display technology will ultimately prevail. In the future, it's highly likely that multiple technologies will coexist, with different technologies playing a role in different scenarios and vehicle models based on their own characteristics.
Current Status and Trends of the Automotive Display Market
Market Growth: While the display industry is in a downturn, with the consumer electronics screen market declining, the automotive display market continues to grow, becoming a new focus of competition for panel manufacturers. As the automotive industry moves towards electrification, networking, intelligence, and sharing, the demand for various displays in smart cockpits continues to increase, driving the continuous growth of the automotive display market. According to Jiwei Consulting, global shipments of automotive pre-installed panels will exceed 200 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 6%, and will reach 260 million units by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 4%-5%. Omdia predicts that the global automotive display market size will reach US$9.5 billion in 2023 and exceed US$10 billion by 2024, reaching US$10.5 billion.
Development Trends: In-vehicle displays are evolving towards larger screens, higher resolution, narrower bezels, greater interactivity, multi-screen functionality, multi-screen integration, and diversified forms. Changing consumer demands among car owners have led automakers to adjust their procurement strategies, favoring larger, higher-resolution, narrower-bezel, and touch-integrated in-vehicle display solutions. For example, the market share of central control displays smaller than 7 inches is declining, while the share of displays larger than 10 inches is increasing. 2K and 4K in-vehicle displays are becoming increasingly common, and the market share of in-cell in-vehicle displays is continuously rising. Simultaneously, electric vehicles are incorporating voice recognition and biometric technologies to improve the interactive experience. The multi-scenario nature of automobiles makes multi-screen functionality inevitable; future autonomous vehicles may have more than 10 screens. Multi-screen functionality is accompanied by integration and unification, with multiple screens in the same scenario being rationally designed to form a cohesive whole, and different scenarios being integrated through electronic control units. In terms of form factors, irregularly shaped screens, flexible screens, and transparent screens are favored by high-end automakers. For instance, BMW has partnered with Samsung Display, and Samsung will supply OLED screens to BMW vehicles in the coming years. Furthermore, automobiles are closely related to human safety, requiring in-vehicle displays to possess high reliability, resistance to extreme cold and heat, and high stability.
The Status of Different Display Technologies in the Automotive Display Market
Low-end LCD Screens (a-Si LCD)
Advantages: Ample production capacity, mature and stable technology, meets automotive requirements for large screen sizes and high reliability, and offers cost-effectiveness.
Market Position: Essentially standard equipment in mid-to-low-end cars, currently the mainstream automotive display technology, with a market share exceeding 80%. In the global market of 80-90 million vehicles, the vast majority are mid-to-low-end models, which are price-sensitive. Therefore, low-end LCD screens still have huge potential in the automotive market and will continue to dominate the automotive display market for a long time.
Mid-to-High-end LCD Screens (LTPS LCD)
Advantages: Higher resolution, In-Cell technology, narrower bezels, and higher brightness.
Market Status: Gradually penetrating mid-to-high-end models, currently holding a market share exceeding 15%. However, production lines are uneconomical when cutting automotive panels larger than 13 inches, unable to fully meet the larger-size demands of the automotive display market. Tianma and TCL CSOT are investing in 8.6-generation production lines, including capacity for mid-to-high-end IGZO LCD screens. However, IGZO LCDs have certain reliability issues; for example, under high temperature and humidity conditions, doped particles can diffuse, causing electrical characteristic drift. Currently, only a small number are used in automotive displays.
OLED Advantages: Low power consumption, flexibility, color gamut, high refresh rate, transparency, etc.
Market Prospects: Has greater development potential in the high-end automotive display market. High-end car manufacturers have a strong interest in new display technologies. LGD, in cooperation with automakers such as Lexus, is developing OLEDs and maintains an absolute leading position in the OLED automotive display market.
Mini LED Backlit LCD Screen Advantages: Enhances the brightness and contrast of LCD screens.
Market Prospects: Will gradually penetrate the automotive display market in the next few years.
Micro LED Display Advantages: Combines all the advantages of OLED and Mini LED, featuring high resolution, high brightness, flexibility, thinness, and energy saving, making it very suitable for automotive display applications.
Market Prospects: If mass production is achieved, the future automotive display market may belong to Micro LED.
Future Outlook for Automotive Display Technology
Different display technologies all have room for development in the automotive display market. Low-end LCD screens (a-Si LCD) will remain mainstream in the short term, but their market share will gradually be eroded by the development of mid-to-high-end LCD screens (LTPS LCD), OLED, Mini LED, and Micro LED technologies. In the future, a situation will emerge where multiple display technologies coexist in automotive display applications. Different technologies will play a role in different scenarios and vehicle models based on their own characteristics. For example, low-end LCD screens will be used in mid-to-low-end vehicles, while OLED, Mini LED, and Micro LED will be used in high-end vehicles, meeting the needs of different consumers and automakers.
