Market Overview

The global in-vehicle display market size in 2017, which includes the size of commercial products as well as genuine products made by automakers, rose to 148,675 thousand, 106.8% of that in the previous year, based on the shipment volume at manufacturers.

In the in-vehicle display market, TFT-LCDs (thin film transistor liquid crystal displays) show overwhelming popularity with their longtime trust. TFT-LCDs are introduced as standard in-vehicle CIDs (Center Information Displays) and are increasingly adopted as Instrument Clusters which have been increasingly replaced from TN/STN to TFT. In addition, they are also newly introduced as main displays of HUDs (Head-up displays) and electric rearview and side mirrors. Therefore, along with expansion of the in-vehicle display market, the TFT/LCD market is also likely to continue growing for the time being.

Noteworthy Topics

In-vehicle AM-OLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) has been expected as a next-generation display, and is likely for Audi to adopt AM-OLED screens for CIDs and for electric side mirrors.  Mercedes-Benz is also scheduled to introduce AM-OLED screens.

Although in-vehicle AM-OLED has been highly reputed for its high contrast, it also has some challenges, i.e., the matter of brightness, afterimage, and duration of life, which have not yet completely satisfied the conditions of being the part of an automobile. Therefore, AM-OLED has been initially introduced only in a control screen (Remote) for RSE (rear seat entertainment). However, it is likely to be test-shipped as CIDs and side mirrors for Audi’s new automobile models.

Although there are some challenges to be solved as an in-vehicle display, the key to increase the introduction of AM-OLED lies in how their characteristics of high-contrast and flexibility will be assessed in the improved AM-OLEDs prior to full introduction.

Research Outline