LG Display, fresh off its first profitable year in four years, is preparing to step up investment in 2026 as it seeks to strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive OLED market. Despite that, the company is proceeding cautiously on one of the industry's most closely watched questions: whether and when to commit to large-scale production of next-generation OLED panels for IT devices.
China's LCD panel industry leads globally across major applications, pushing many Japanese and South Korean suppliers out of the market. In automotive displays, Chinese manufacturers still dominate shipment volumes, but Taiwan's two largest panel makers hold the top two positions by revenue through integrated solution strategies. Automotive display revenue for both is projected to continue rising through 2026, with a combined target of NT$100 billion (US$3.2 billion).
Giantplus Technology, which focuses on small- and medium-sized panels, recently faced a management rights dispute. The largest shareholder, Japan's Toppan Holdings, had originally agreed with JuYi Investment to transfer 53.1% of Giantplus Technology's shares in two phases. However, the second phase of the transaction has stalled, and reports indicate that Toppan does not rule out resolving the matter through legal channels.
After more than two years of patent litigation and a two-week trial, Taiwanese display technology giant AUO secured a significant victory in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. A jury ruled that AUO did not infringe any of the patents claimed by Texas-based Phenix Longhorn and declared one of the asserted patents invalid.
LG Display (LGD) announced that it returned to profitability in 2025, marking its first annual profit in four years since 2021. The turnaround was driven by its exit from the large-size LCD business and a shift toward an OLED-centered business structure, with OLED products accounting for 61% of total revenue in 2025, a record high. According to ET News and Seoul Economic Daily, LGD reported 2025 full-year revenue of approximately KRW25.81 trillion (US$18.1 billion) and operating profit of KRW517 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2025, LGD recorded revenue of around KRW7.2 trillion, down 8% year-over-year, while operating profit surged 103% to KRW168.5 billion.
Ennostar Group has rapidly advanced its optical communication technologies since 2021, targeting next-generation AI data transmission markets. In an interview with DIGITIMES, Chang-Da Tsai, deputy director of the Advanced Research Center at Ennostar, said the company has achieved significant milestones in short-, medium-, and long-distance solutions, positioning itself to surpass established industry standards and capture emerging opportunities driven by AI server demand.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics unveiled new RGB Mini-LED televisions at the CES 2026 trade show, signaling a strategic bet on refined LCD backlighting to shore up their TV strategies.
Rising precious metal prices are rippling through the LED industry, prompting Chinese manufacturers to issue price increase notices and pushing Taiwanese suppliers to consider similar moves. Taiwan-based LED maker Edison Opto has already announced broad price increases, while peers including Ennostar and Everlight Electronics are said to be internally evaluating their pricing strategies as cost pressures mount.
As global industrial landscapes restructure, Taiwanese companies are making record investments in the US, driven by a strategic shift from cost-cutting to resilience in supply chain management. AU Optronics (AUO) chairman and CEO Paul Peng underscored the necessity for Taiwanese firms to transition from passive manufacturing bases toward leveraging the US as a critical market, innovation center, and capital platform.
Introducing OLED technology into IT applications has been on the rise over the last couple of years, and display driver IC (DDI) companies expect this segment to provide new incremental growth momentum for OLED DDIs. Major notebook companies have already rolled out high-end product lines equipped with OLED displays, indicating that related projects are already shipping. However, DDI brands say the impact has not been particularly noticeable so far, describing the current situation as having projects but limited shipment volumes.
Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of January 19-25, 2026.
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