Detectors & Imaging

34 million smartwatch displays will ship in 2015

June 2, 2015

According to research firm IHS, smartwatch display unit shipments are expected to grow 250% year-over-year in 2015.

Research firm IHS forecasts robust demand for smartwatch displays.

According to research firm IHS (Englewood, CO; NYSE:IHS), smartwatch display unit shipments are expected to grow 250% year-over-year, reaching a record 34 million units in 2015, led by demand for the new Apple Watch. The display market is still assessing the staying power of smartwatch demand, so as not to overshoot display supply needs in the coming year, particularly for the year-end shopping season. Smartwatch display shipments are therefore forecast to decline to about 6.5 million units in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015, after reaching a high point of 10.5 million units in the third quarter.

Because both Apple Watch and Samsung Gear rely on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) panels, that technology will comprise the majority (58%) of total smartwatch panels shipped. Based on the latest information from the IHS Quarterly Small/Medium Shipment and Forecast Report, Apple Watch is expected to make up 84% of AMOLED (http://www.laserfocusworld.com/articles/2014/07/amoled-mobile-displays-to-cost-less-than-lcds-within-two-years.html) smartwatch panels and 49% of total displays for smartwatch shipped in 2015.

"Apple Watch has attracted a lot of attention from consumers, which has led to increased demand," said Hiroshi Hayase, director of analysis and research for IHS Technology. "The display market is carefully watching consumer response to products in the smartwatch category, which should help to improve future display technologies."

The IHS Quarterly Small/Medium Shipment and Forecast Report covers the entire range of small and medium (9 inches or smaller) displays shipped worldwide and regionally. Backed by data from over 35 suppliers and industry analyst insights, the report analyzes historical shipments and forecast projections.

IHS will be exhibiting at booth number 1117 at 2015 SID Display Week 2015 in San Jose, CA, June 2 - 4, 2015. For more information about this conference, visit www.displayweek.org.

SOURCE: IHS; http://press.ihs.com/press-release/technology/smartwatch-display-shipments-reach-record-34-million-units-2015-ihs-says

This article was originally published on 6/2/2015

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.