Sales of OLED PC screens are exploding… but still remain marginal

Data published by the analysis firm TrendForce suggests particularly strong growth for OLED screens in the large PC monitor sector. A three-digit growth which, however, does not yet allow this technology to occupy a dominant place in this market.

It’s all a question of perspective, and in the PC monitor market, OLED screens are no exception. According to TrendForce, OLED monitors will benefit from spectacular growth of 323% in 2023, reaching more than 500,000 units distributed this year – and with the potential to double this figure in 2024. A notable performance, which nevertheless takes time looks like a drop of water diluted in the ocean that represents the PC monitor market as a whole.

As reported by PC Gamer, IDC estimates that in total, nearly 120 million PC screens will have been sold in 2023. A figure down compared to the previous two years. We consider that around 135 million monitors had found buyers in 2022, compared to 140 million in 2021. Enough to put OLED monitors in their place, because despite sales which are seriously accelerating, they do not represent currently only 0.5% of the market.

A prohibitive price for most users

The main obstacle to even wider adoption of these screens is none other than their price. Because if the excellent Alienware 34 QD-OLED is regularly on sale for around 800 to 900 euros, most of these models are sold at 1000 euros and more… or almost twice the price of a good LCD monitor. Another element that works against OLED screens: their (relative) fragility. We know, for example, that QD-OLED panels manufactured by Samsung are sensitive to burn-in when fixed elements are displayed on the screen over very long periods. A problem that does not concern LCD monitors.

However, something seems to have started for OLED screens on the PC market. In addition to their increasingly common adoption in the laptop sector, the growth observed in sales of OLED monitors suggests an increase in production, and with it, hopefully, a drop in prices. Unless the situation changes, it is therefore a safe bet that this dynamic will strengthen over the coming years, leading to mass distribution of OLED monitors for PCs… with more attractive prices in the near future.