CES 2026 The world’s largest consumer electronics show, CES 2026, is expected to become a watershed moment clearly demonstrating the strategic pivot of South Korea’s two major home appliance giants.
Samsung Electronics is reshaping the TV market landscape starting with CES 2026. Moving beyond the traditional “appliance show” format, Samsung’s clear strategy is evident in its standalone exhibition hall spanning approximately 4,645 square meters at the Wynn Hotel.
As the adoption of electric vehicles and the transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) gain momentum, automotive displays are rapidly being elevated from simple information panels to core components that shape user experience (UX) and enable brand differentiation. Amid this shift, the adoption of Mini-LED—capable of delivering both premium image quality and high readability—is expanding, with clear growth trends emerging across shipment volume and key market indicators.
In the Chinese display industry, HKC has long been known as a leading panel manufacturer, fueled by its large-scale LCD-based mass production capabilities. However, its recent move to focus on RGB Mini LED is seen as a strategic shift that transcends its traditional identity.
OMNIVISION, which supplies LCoS to Meta’s smart glasses ‘Ray-Ban Display’, unveiled a high-resolution LCoS panel ‘OP03021’ for next-generation AR (augmented reality) glasses on December 16, 2025, and predicted mass production of the panel in the first half of 2026.
BOE has been gradually expanding its presence as a supplier of OLED panels for Apple’s iPhones. Building on deliveries centered on the standard models from the iPhone 12 through iPhone 16 series, BOE has broadened its coverage to the iPhone 16e, and more recently, a trend has been observed in which its coverage extends even to the iPhone 17 Pro.
The pinnacle of self-emissive display technology—Micro-LED—is finally stepping out of the laboratory and attempting to enter the living room.
As in-vehicle displays grow larger and more numerous, automotive HMI (Human–Machine Interface) is facing another turning point. The information display methods, which have evolved around instrument panels, center displays, and HUDs, are now expected to expand into driver wearable personal devices—specifically, AI smart glasses.
UK-based advanced materials company Smartkem announced its next-generation Mini-LED backlight technology at International Display Workshops 2025, held at the Hiroshima International Conference Center in Japan from December 3 to 5.
At CES 2026, it became clear that automotive display technology has emerged as a core competitive factor amid the broader transition of vehicles from mere means of transportation to intelligent living spaces. As the shift toward autonomous driving and Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs) accelerates, the amount of information and content required inside vehicles continues to increase.
BOE has reportedly completed internal lighting for its 8.6-generation (2290×2620 mm) IT OLED production line, known as B16, which is currently under construction in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The project, launched in March 2024 with a total investment of 63 billion RMB (approximately 12.4 trillion KRW), is progressing rapidly and is designed to support a monthly capacity of 32,000 glass substrates.
China’s display industry has set a milestone beyond leading global production volume, advancing toward self-reliance in core material technologies. Tsinghua University and Visionox officially announced the successful mass production of Phosphor-assisted Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Sensitized Fluorescence (pTSF) technology
Minimalism in automotive displays has gained even more traction amidst the shift from traditional physical button-centric control systems to a “digital-based single interface.”
According to UBI Research’s quarterly publication, the OLED Display Market Tracker, OLED panel shipments for smartphones and foldable phones are expected to reach approximately 900 million units in 2025. By shipment share, Chinese panel makers are projected to account for about 50.8% of the annual total, nearly matching the level of Korean manufacturers.
Samsung Display announced that it has received the Minister’s Commendation at the “Korea Technology Award” for its development of the world’s first 160PPI (Pixels Per Inch) QD-OLED for high-resolution monitors and 4,000-nit QD-OLED for high-brightness TVs.
The rapid expansion of the AI and XR device market has intensified competition in next-generation microdisplay technologies. According to a new report published by UBI Research titled ” XR Industry Trends and OLEDoS Display Technology & Industry Analysis” XR headset shipments are expected to exceed 10 million units by 2025.
In the 2025 TV market, the proliferation of large-size RGB Mini-LED products has significantly broadened technological options. Manufacturers, led by TCL and Hisense, have actively expanded their product lineup to 85- to 115-inch sizes, increasing affordability in the ultra-large market.
A comprehensive review of major AR glasses released between 2023 and 2025 confirms that the global XR market is rapidly restructuring around ultra-lightweight AR glasses based on Micro-LED technology. Notably, lightweight AR glasses combining Micro-LED and waveguide technology have been successively launched, primarily in China.