Following the change from LCD→OLED in iPhone 13·14
Supplying the Chinese panel company, ‘BOE’ Display
Competing with Samsung for Apple flagship DDI market
3rd quarter accumulated sales rose by 22%
LX Semicon is expanding their supply of display driver IC (DDI) for smartphones to BOE, the biggest display company in China. Bolstered by the increase in BOE’s production for mobile displays for Apple, LX Semicon is attempting to reach their greatest sales yet at 2 trillion KRW.
CEO Bo-ik Son of LX Semicon said at the recently held ‘Semiconductor Day’ event that, “We supply OLED DDI for high-end and regular models,” and went on to reveal that, “We will expand our supply of OLED DDI to the regular models (which BOE is supplying).”
LX Semicon is expanding their supply of OLED DDI for smartphones. This is due to the existing liquid-crystal displays (LCD) in smartphones are being switched to OLED. The supply is increasing in the iPhone 13 and 14 series in particular. LX Semicon supplies DDI for the displays manufactured by LG Display and BOE, the Chinese panel company.
LX Semicon is Korea’s number 1 fabless (design) semiconductor company. They supply DDI for parts in electronic devices, like TV’s, appliances, and mobiles. The smartphone DDIs are applied in smartphones manufactured by Korean and foreign manufacturers, and Apple is the biggest client in the mobile DDI market.
They supply two products, OLED DDI using low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) – thin film transistors (TFT) and LTPS-TFT based OLED DDI, for Apple’s iPhone 13 series. LTPO will be applied to the high-end model, while LTPS will be applied to the regular model. Although LTPS is known for its high electron mobility and stability, it is also known that its power consumption does not reach that of LTPO. The demand for LTPS DDI for displays supplied by BOE for Apple smartphones is rising.
LX Semicon is expanding their supply of mobile OLED DDI and securing their sales. According to the market research company, Omdia, it makes up 35% of Apple’s DDI supply in the 2nd quarter of this year. They are maintaining a similar level to the mid 30% of last year. With Samsung Electronics’ System LSI taking up 65%, they are competing with LX Semicon in the Apple flagship DDI market. It can be seen that SLX Semicon is expanding their delivery of DDI to BOE to expand their DDI supply.
LX Semicon is aiming to reach 2 trillion KRW in sales this year. With their 3rd quarter sales at 478.6 billion KRW, LX Semicon had a 5.3% drop compared to the same period last year. This can be explained with the shrinking demand of DDI from their TV clients causing their 3rd quarter sales to fall compared to the previous year. Their accumulated sales by the 3rd quarter is 1.6628 trillion KRW, increasing by 22.2% compared to last year. With their expansion of DDI supply in the 4th quarter, they are expected to reach 2 trillion KRW in sales.
Regarding the supply of DDI in the second half, CEO Son said, “The mobile DDI supply is expected to increase for the next-generation product of their client,” and went on to predict that, “It is possible to reach our best sales yet with the expansion of our DDI product.”
Reporter Ji-woong Kim (jw0316@etnews.com)