AMOLED - introduction and market status
OLED displays use organic materials that emit light when electricity is applied. OLEDs enable emissive, bright, thin, flexible and efficient displays - and so OLEDs are set to replace LCDs in all display applications - from small displays to large TV sets.
An AMOLED display is an OLED display that is driven by an active matrix backplane, it is a type of OLED display that can achieve high performance. Most OLED displays such as the ones used in TVs and smartphones are actually AMOLED displays.
What does AMOLED mean?
The term AMOLED means Active-Matrix OLED. The 'active-matrix' part refers to the driving electronics, or the TFT layer. When you display an image, you actually display it line by line (sequentially) as you can only change one line at a time. An AMOLED uses a TFT which contains a storage capacitor which maintains the line pixel states, and so enables large size (and large resolution) displays.
AMOLEDs today
AMOLED displays today are used in many applications - and are most common in smartphones. Most smartphones today use AMOLED displays (over 50% of smartphones use AMOLEDs rather than LCDs), including the latest Samsung phones, and all of Apple's latest iPhone models.
AMOLED displays are also used in OLED TVs, many wearables (including Apple's Watch), tablets, laptops, VR headsets, monitors, and more. There are also flexible, foldable (and soon rollable) AMOLED displays available today.
AMOLED vs PMOLED
A PMOLED uses a simpler kind of driver electronics - without a storage capacitor. This means that each line is turned off when you move to the next line. So let's say you have 10 rows in your display - each row will only be on 1/10 of the time. The brightness of each row has to be 10 times the brightness you'd get in an AMOLED. So you use more voltage which shortens the lifetime of the OLED materials and also results in a less efficient display. So while PMOLEDs are cheaper to make than AMOLEDs they are limited in size and resolution (the largest PMOLED is only 5", and most of them are around 1" to 3"). Most PMOLEDs are used for character display, and not to show photos or videos.
Looking to buy AMOLED displays?
Are you looking to buy AMOLED display for your project? AMOLEDs on the market range from small 1-inch ones for smartwatches through large OLEDs used in tablets and laptops - to large TV panels, up to 97" in size. Visit our OLED Marketplace, the world's most comprehensive OLED catalog, where you can browse the available panels, and let us help you find the best AMOLED supplier for your needs!
Further reading
- Introduction to OLED displays
- OLED Technology explained
- PMOLED Displays
- Flexible OLEDs
- Transparent OLEDs
- The OLED Marketplace - buy your AMOLED here
- OLED-Info Pro: subscribe to access our premium content, OLED technology guide, analysis and insights, data resources
More details emerge on SDC's $2.5 billion flexible OLED expansion plan in Asan
Last month we reported that Samsung Display decided to expand its OLED production hub in Asan, looking to expand its flexible (mostly foldable) OLED capacity.
According to the latest news from Korea, Samsung has indeed confirmed the expansion, and more details on SDC's plans has emerged. This expansion plan is part of a large Korean government initiative to build a next-generation production base in Asan, for both displays and semiconductors.
Samsung decides not to adopt BOE's AMOLEDs in its flagship S27 smartphone series, will use SDC panels exclusively
Samsung Electronics, aiming to reduce its cost structure, recently ordered 15 million AMOLED panels from CSOT, that are adopted in the 2026 Galaxy A57 and S FE models smartphones. Last month we reported that Samsung is in talks with BOE to the supply of advanced AMOLED displays that will be used in the basic model of the flagship Galaxy S27 smartphone.
Today a report in Korea says that Samsung Electronics eventually decided to not use BOE's AMOLEDs, and will rely exclusively on OLED panels made by Samsung Display.
Honor launches the X80 Pro Max, the first phone to reach 10,000 nits brightness
Honor launched its latest flagship phone, the X80 Pro Max - with a 6.8" 120Hz 1280x270 LTPS AMOLED display.
The display, produced by Tianma,, is the world's first 10,000 nits smartphone display. This high brightness is available in video model only. At HBM, if offers a brightness of 2,000 nits.
BOE officially starts mass producing IT AMOLED displays at its 8.6-Gen B16 fab in Chengdu
BOE held a grand ceremony in Chengdu today, to mark the official launch of its B16 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED fab in Chengdu - which is now starting to mass produce commercial displays. This is an exciting moment for the OLED industry, as now both BOE and Samsung Display are mass producing OLEDs at 8.6-Gen lines.
BOE's first products out of this new line will be 14-inch 2.8K laptop OLED panels. At the ceremony, BOE revealed more then ten customers including Lenovo, Honor, Vivo, Oppo, ZTE, Xiaomi, Transsion, and Nothing.
A spotlight on Visionox: a deep dive into the company's history, ViP and pTSF technologies, spin-outs, fabs and roadmaps
Sigmaintell: flexible AMOLED fab utilization in China drops to 69% in early 2026
According to Sigmaintell, the average utilization rates in Chinese 6-Gen flexible AMOLED production lines declined from around 80% in Q4 2025 to 69% in Q1 2026.
Sigmaintell says that the main reason for the decline is lower demand from Chinese smartphones makers as they face a declining market, and increased component costs (mainly memory chips). In addition, some companies have large inventories of panels.
Samsung Electronics reduces its foldable smartphone shipments in 2026
An interesting industry report suggests that Samsung is planning to ship 5-6 million foldable smartphones in 2026, from its new 8-Gen series (which will include the Galaxy Z Fold8, Z Flip8, and the new Galaxy Wide Fold).
These numbers are slightly lower than what the company shipped in 2025, about 6 million units for their Galaxy Z7 series. It appears as if Samsung is anticipating a somewhat lower demand this year for foldable smartphones - a few months ago it believed it will ship 6.5 million units in 2026.
Reports suggest Samsung is considering expanding its flexible and foldable OLED production hub in Asan
Reports from Korea suggest that Samsung Display has decided to expand its OLED production hub in Asan, looking to expand its flexible (mostly foldable) OLED capacity.
It seems as if Samsung is seeing higher demand for foldable OLEDs in the future, starting with Apple's first foldable OLED smartphone launch later this year.
Samsung Display looks to sell its Tianjin AMOLED module factory, as demand for rigid OLEDs in China is declining
According to reports from Korea, Samsung Display has decided to sell its OLED module fab in Tianjin, China, as demand for its rigid AMOLED is declining, espsecially in China, and the company wishes to consolidate all its AMOLED module production capacity in Vietnam.
The SDC Tianjin module line has the monthly capacity to produce around 13 million rigid smartphone AMOLED display modules.
YAS to supply evaporation sources for CSOT's 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED line
Korean OLED equipment maker YAS is set to supply deposition equipment and evaporation sources for TCL CSOT's 8.6-Gen inkjet IT AMOLED production line. The evaporation sources deal is estimated at 10 billion Won ($6.6 million USD).
It is reported that YAS signed a contract with CSOT on April 2026, to supply both evaporation systems and sources, but the details were not disclosed yet. This specific supply deal is part of that April contract, and includes 6 linear evaporation sources and 72 point evaporation sources.
