Smartphones lift flat-panel sector

Because of the mobile shift in the market, flat panel-display manufacturers are refocusing their attention on small and medium-sized displays.

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"The trend is especially apparent in China, where there are growing numbers of new low-temperature polysilicon and organic light-emitting diode plants," said a report from NPD DisplaySearch, a California-based industry consultancy.

Global mobile display revenue is set to exceed revenue in the TV display sector for the first time this year, according to NPD DisplaySearch. The flat panel displays used on mobile devices will generate 42 percent of global total revenue in 2014, surpassing LCD TVs' share of 37 percent, the firm said.

"With strong growth in tablets, high-end notebooks and smartphones - especially high-resolution and wide-viewing angle displays - mobile devices are leading the growth of the flat-panel display sector," said David Hsieh, vice-president of NPD DisplaySearch.

Local display manufacturers, such as BOE Co Ltd, Visionox Co and Tianma Micro-electronics Co, are all looking to expand production capacity to meet demand.

China is the world's largest smartphone maker and consumer in terms of shipments.

Last year, more than 350 million new smartphones were shipped in China, about one-third of the global total, figures from IDC show. Local vendors such as Xiaomi Corp, Lenovo and TCL are quickly gaining market share by frequently unveiling new models, it said.

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