Samsung Display led the 9-inch-and-smaller display market in 2015, with 23 percent of all revenue, followed by Japan Display at 16 percent, LG Display at 13 percent and Sharp at 10 percent, according to IHS Inc. While overall small-medium display unit shipments did not grow in 2015, increasing demand for high-resolution smartphone displays caused active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display unit shipments to grow 54 percent, and low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor (LTPS TFT) LCD display unit shipments to rise 10 percent, over the previous year. As AMOLED and LTPS TFT LCD shipments rose, however, amorphous silicon (a-Si) TFT LCD shipments declined 10 percent year over year in 2015, according to the latest IHS Small-Medium Display Market Tracker.

"To compete in the increasingly saturated small-medium display market, smartphone manufacturers are shifting from a-Si TFT display technology to high-performance displays that rely on AMOLED and LTPS TFT technology," said Hiroshi Hayase, senior director, IHS Technology. "In fact, with Apple’s iPhone line reportedly relying on AMOLED in the future, Japan Display and Sharp officially announced that by 2018 they would invest in mass production of AMOLED displays, joining leading AMOLED suppliers Samsung Display and LG Display."