A customer takes a photograph at a sales space for Ok-Show 2024 at COEX in Seoul, Aug. 14. Yonhap
Tech leaks enhance amid intensifying competitors
By Nam Hyun-woo
Korean firms’ dominance within the world show market is being more and more challenged by their Chinese language counterparts, with current knowledge revealing that Chinese language corporations’ world OLED market share surpassed that of Korean firms for the primary time within the first quarter of this yr.
Business insiders attribute this shift to Beijing’s “patriotic consumption” marketing campaign, which not solely served as a casual boycott of imported merchandise but in addition led Chinese language smartphone producers to favor OLEDs made by home producers.
Korean show makers reminiscent of Samsung Show and LG Show are striving to take care of their management in premium merchandise by retaining their technological lead on Chinese language gamers, however the competitors is intensifying as evidenced by a rising variety of tech leak circumstances.
The worldwide OLED market share by provide / Supply: Omdia
Scorching pursuit
In line with knowledge from market tracker Omdia, Chinese language corporations accounted for 49.7 p.c of worldwide OLED shipments within the first quarter of this yr, surpassing Korean corporations, which held 49 p.c.
Within the first quarter of final yr, Korean and Chinese language firms held market shares of 62.3 p.c and 36.6 p.c, respectively, sustaining a 25.7-percentage-point hole. Nevertheless, this narrowed shortly to 9.5 proportion factors three months later.
The hole widened to 14.9 proportion factors within the third quarter and 16.7 proportion factors within the fourth, however ended up being reversed within the January-to-March interval this yr.
By way of OLED revenues, Korean corporations are nonetheless sustaining a dominant market share with 62.8 p.c within the first quarter of this yr, with Chinese language firms following with 36.4 p.c.
Because of this Samsung and LG nonetheless have their prowess in high-value merchandise, however the income hole can also be narrowing shortly, provided that Korean and Chinese language corporations every accounted for 74.2 p.c and 25.2 p.c within the first quarter of final yr.
The worldwide OLED market share by income / Supply: Omdia
Show trade officers attributed this pattern to Chinese language corporations’ rise in OLEDs for smartphones, as Huawei, Xioami, Oppo and different Chinese language smartphone makers more and more use shows manufactured by their compatriots.
In line with one other market tracker Beijing Sino Analysis, Chinese language show firms accounted for 50.7 p.c of the worldwide smartphone OLED market by cargo within the first half of this yr, up 10.1 proportion factors from a yr earlier. Throughout the identical interval, that of Korean firms declined to 49.3 p.c from 59.4 p.c.
Since China launched the “Made in China 2025” technique in 2015, the nation has been selling its aim of enhancing the self-sufficiency of its industries, leading to main smartphone producers utilizing domestically manufactured OLEDs of their new merchandise.
In line with knowledge from the Korea Show Business Affiliation, 16 p.c of smartphones made by Chinese language makers used OLEDs manufactured by Korean firms final yr, plunging from 77.9 p.c in 2021 and 55.6 p.c in 2022.
“After Chinese language show makers claimed management within the LCD market, Korean corporations have shortly lowered their reliance on LCDs and centered on OLEDs,” an trade official stated. “Although Korean show makers preserve technological management for now, Chinese language firms are in pursuit by way of not solely value competitiveness but in addition applied sciences.”
LG Show’s plant in Guangzhou / Captured from LG Show newsroom
Expertise struggle
Amid the intensifying competitors, the variety of commerce secret leak circumstances can also be rising.
In line with the Nationwide Police Company, police have investigated 12 circumstances of abroad know-how leaks within the first half of this yr, up from eight throughout the first half of final yr. Among the many 12 circumstances, three have been associated to the show trade.
On a yearly foundation, police investigated just one leak of show know-how in 2019, however the quantity grew to 3 in 2021 and 12 in 2023, displaying that the competitors is ever-intensifying.
In a current case, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Workplace indicted three former LG Show workers, together with a former staff chief, for violating the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Safety of Industrial Expertise and different associated legal guidelines.
The indicted people face fees of allegedly photographing the blueprint of LG Show’s Guangzhou plant and offering them to a Chinese language rival between 2021 and 2022. LG Show produces giant OLEDs for TVs at this plant and has invested over 5 trillion received ($3.75 billion) to ascertain mass manufacturing services.
“Whereas monitoring former workers, we’ve confirmed the circumstances that our know-how has been leaked and requested legislation enforcement authorities to research,” an official at LG Show stated.
“We’re enhancing our safety administration and programs, and can completely reply with authorized actions to any makes an attempt to leak our data, together with industrial know-how and different commerce secrets and techniques.”
Final month, the Suwon District Court docket sentenced a former Samsung Show senior researcher to 6 years in jail for leaking OLED applied sciences.
The previous researcher was indicted for trying to leak know-how associated to OLED digital circuit manufacturing tools and inkjet tools used to bond panels and canopy glass to China from 2018 to 2020. The prosecution estimates that these commerce secrets and techniques are valued at a minimal of 340 billion received.
The researcher’s 5 accomplices obtained jail sentences starting from one to 2 years, however the researcher fled to China. After returning to Korea in Could final yr, the researcher was arrested by the prosecution in September.
