Market updates

According to Counterpoint Research (DSCC), Quantum Dots film and diffuser plate sales grew 42% in 2024, driven by demand from QD-LCD and MiniLED TVs. In the notebook segment, revenues grew 228%, mostly due to Apple's first adoption of QDs in MacBook Pro devices.

Counterpoint expects revenues to continue rising, and in 2025 the growth is forecasted to be 27.5% from 2024. The company acknowledges that the US tariffs and trade war may curb demand for premium displays, and Counterpoint has no clear visibility on that issue. 

DSCC says that the demand for QD materials in the display industry is growing, and the market will grow to $100 million in 2024. It will continue to grow and reach $122 million in 2027. 

The main application is in LCD displays (color conversion), but materials used in QD-OLED's (by Samsung Display) is growing and accounts for 31% of the market (in the chart above DSCC notes QD-OLEDs as QD-CC). Production of QD-OLED panels is limited (SDC's total capacity is for around 2 million panels per year) but the material usage is large compared to QD-LCDs.

Quantum Dots technology is being used today in many display applications (mostly in LCD and OLED displays), and it is expected that adoption QDs in the display industry will continue to grow quickly. Here are some recent and popular news that you may find of interest:

• IDTechEx: The global QD market will reach $550 million by 2034
• Shoei Chemical acquires leading QD developer Nanosys
• Canon announces new quantom-dot inks for display applications
• Samsung Display shows its latest QD-OLED displays at Display Week 2023
• BOE demonstrates a 4.7" high-resolution AMQLED prototype
• Sharp launches its first QD-OLED TV, the AQUOS FS1
• Asus and Philips launch new QD-OLED gaming monitors
• Samsung developed an all-printed 12.4" 182 PPI EL-QD display
• TCL's latest QLED miniLED TV is the world's brightest at 5,000 nits
• Newly-developed perovskite QDs are promising for display color conversion applications
• Samsung Display completes the switch to a full-fledged QD-OLED centered business
• Samsung said to increase QD-OLED capacity to produce monitor panels for Apple

IDTechEx posted an article detailing the company's views on the quantum dot materials market for the display industry. The article details the progress from QD on Edge technology, to QDEF,  QDOG, QDCC and finally QLED displays (emissive QDs, or QD-EL).

IDTechEx believes that QDs are the "ultimate emissive material for displays", tracking efficiency and lifetime improvements. IDTechEx estimates that the global market for QD materials will reach $550 million by 2023 - this includes all QD applications, not just displays (but displays is one of the major markets).

Quantum Dots developer Nanosys announced a milestone in QD technology commercialization - the 1,000th unique display product that utilizes its QD materials. Nanosys says that it has shipped over 140 tons of QD materials and it holds more than 800 unique patents.

Nanosys offers QD solutions for LCDs, OLEDs, microLEDs and QD-EL displays (which it calls nanoLEDs). The company’s tier-one customer base includes all top-10 global television brands and four of the top-five IT brands, including Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL, Hisense, Acer, ASUS, and Phillips.

DSCC says that QD displays (QD-OLED and QD-LCD) will continue to grow, with area growth of nearly 15% in 2023. The largest application for QD displays by far is TV, with 15.6 million QD-enhanced TVs to ship in 2023.

Regarding QD-OLED panels, DSCC notes that the only producer today is Samsung Display, that has a converted LCD line with plans to reach a capacity of 45,000 8.5-Gen substrates per month by 2025. The company did not yet commit to further investments. QD-OLED production, by area, will reach 1.7 million square meters in 2025. QD-LCD panel area will reach 23 million square meters in the same year.

China-based Leyard Optoelectronics says it is starting to produce microLED large-area displays that use blue microLEDs and QD based color convestion.

Leyard uses Saphlu'x NPQD technology (it is a stakeholder in Saphlux), which makes use of a nanopore structure to deposit the quantum dots on blue microLED chips. Saphlux says that the nanoporous structure has a unique scattering effect, which enhances light conversion efficiency and the reliability of the quantum dots. The solution also provides a wide color gamut, good color consistency and high efficiency.

DSCC says that over 500,000 QD-OLED TVs will ship in 2022, offered by both Sony and Samsung. Shipments are expected to grow and reach 1.5 million units in 2026.

The main limitation for QD-OLED TVs will by Samsung's production capacity. In 2023 the company will add 49-inch monitors and 77-inch TV panels, as SDC will start using Multi-cut Mother Glass (MMG) technology.

Market research firm Omdia says that the sale of QD-enhanced LCD TVs will decline in 2022 to $17.67 billion, down 3.1% from the revenues in 2021. This is the first time since 2017 when the first such TVs were introduced, that the market will decline.

Shipments of QD-LCDs will actually increase this year, but revenues will decline because more of these TVs will be lower in price. 52% of such TVs will cost less than $1,000 this year, up from only 36.5% of the TVs in 2021.

Display market research firm DSCC says that QDEF technology (QD films for LCD displays) will continue to grow at a fast pace, rising from $236 million in 2022 to $326 million in 2025. The main market will remain TV applications. This forecast does not include any perovskite-based films.

QDEF are quantum dots enhancement films, used to enhance the color gamut of LCD displays. The main display applications for QDEF are in TVs, monitors and laptops.