(Yicai Global) June 18 -- Chinese manufacturers of sixth generation and above display panels accounted for 40 percent of the industry’s global revenue last year, according to Liu Wenqiang, deputy head of the China Center for Information Industry Development.

Total revenue at Chinese novel display makers rose 20 percent to CNY400 billion (USD62.1 billion) in 2020 due to the widening use of screens and increasing demand for bigger panels, Liu said yesterday at the 2021 World Conference on the Display Industry in Hefei, Anhui province.

China has invested CNY1.24 trillion (USD192.5 billion) in 35 production lines for sixth generation and above panels, with output capacity reaching 222 million square meters a year, Liu told the conference.

Growth in new uses for panels, such as in vehicles, has outstripped that for their more conventional use in mobile phones, televisions, watches and monitors, with the former increasing more than 16 percent last year, he said, while the standard size of TVs climbed to 47 inches.

Liquid crystal displays still dominate the mainstream market, but organic light emitting displays and micro light-emitting diodes are gaining ground thanks to the increasing popularity of folding screen products and under-screen cameras, Liu said.

The technology to mass produce micro LEDs is not yet mature, but significant progress has been made in the roadmap and the research and development of equipment in the last two years, Liu said, adding that as prices drop, the market for micro LEDs will balloon.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione