Chinese tablet panel maker BOE No. 1 in world

Chinese company BOE has overtaken Samsung and LG to become the world’s No. 1 PC tablet display maker with a market share of 29 percent in the first quarter, according to DisplaySearch, a research and consulting firm.

Tied for number two were Samsung and Taiwan’s CPT, each with 15 percent market share, followed by LG Display (13 percent) and Taiwan’s AUO (9 percent).

Chinese display manufacturers have been growing rapidly by absorbing technologies from partnerships with Taiwan companies with support from the Beijing government.

BOE supplies its tablet PC panels to the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Lenovo and ASUS tablets.

According to display industry sources, BOE is expanding its factories in Hefei and Chongqing to produce a combined 100,000 panels a month.

However, the market research firm reported the global tablet panel market is forecast to slow slightly.

In the first quarter, shipments increased 15 percent from a year earlier to 157.4 million panels, but total demand for this year was estimated to grow just 2 percent from a year earlier to 316 million units.

Meanwhile, DisplaySearch offered a behind-the-scenes picture of an industry based on major panel suppliers.

LG Display supplies panels to Apple, Samsung supplies them to Microsoft, BOE supplies to Lenovo and Japan Display to Google.

Apple used panels from LG Display in 54 percent of its panels and 30 percent from Samsung.

BY KIM JUNG-YOON [kjy@joongang.co.kr]