Visitors are enjoying Electronic Arts’ (EA) latest soccer game, “EA Sports FC 26,” on the 32:9 aspect ratio “Odyssey OLED G9.” (Image provided by Samsung Electronics.)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — OLED panels now account for nearly 80 percent of the premium gaming monitor market, solidifying South Korea’s dominance in a fast-growing display segment and validating the strategic shift by Samsung Display and LG Display toward higher-value technologies.
According to IDC data released Sunday, OLED penetration in gaming monitors priced above $700 reached 78 percent in the first three quarters of 2025. Of the roughly 1.27 million premium monitors sold worldwide during the period, about 990,000 used OLED panels.
Demand for high-end gaming displays has jumped in recent years, driven by improvements in refresh rates, durability and image quality. Sales of monitors priced above $700 rose from 1.09 million units in 2023 to 1.55 million in 2024, a 42 percent increase, and grew another 22 percent in the first three quarters of this year.
During the same period, OLED’s market share climbed from 35 percent in 2023 to 68 percent in 2024 and 78 percent this year.
“OLED technology is clearly leading the expansion of the premium gaming monitor market,” a display-industry official said. “As performance improvements have accelerated, consumers are showing far less resistance to paying above 1 million won.”
OLED panels, known for their superior color reproduction, fast response times and near-infinite contrast ratios, are especially favored for FPS and other fast-action gaming genres, where minimizing motion blur and preserving detail in dark scenes are essential.
A visitor is experiencing HP’s gaming monitor equipped with Samsung Display’s QD-OLED at the NCSoft booth during the “Tokyo Game Show 2025.” (Image provided by Samsung Display)
The surge in OLED adoption is proving advantageous for Korean display makers.
Industry tracker Omdia estimates Samsung Display held an overwhelming 78 percent share of the monitor OLED market in the first half of the year, with LG Display capturing about 22 percent.
Together, the two companies account for nearly the entire global supply. Chinese producers such as EverDisplay are making inroads, but their market share remains at roughly 0.1 percent.
OLED is also expanding beyond the ultra-premium category.
Sales of gaming OLED monitors priced between $300 and $700 reached 520,000 units in the first three quarters — more than ten times the volume from a year earlier. Penetration in this “volume zone” has risen from 1.4 percent to 14.3 percent.
Korean panel makers plan to extend their OLED leadership across the broader monitor market. Samsung Display said in its first-quarter earnings call that it would expand its lineup beyond high-resolution, ultra-high-refresh-rate premium models to include mainstream B2B and B2C monitors.
By driving OLED adoption both at the top end and in mid-range products, Samsung and LG aim to solidify South Korea’s foothold in next-generation large-screen display technologies.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
