Seven China-based panel makers have been expanding existing or setting up new AMOLED production capacities. The numbers are impressive with total annual capacity estimated to increase from 272,000 square meters in 2016 to 1.584 million square meters in 2018, 4.464 million square meters in 2019, and 7.864 million square meters in 2020 at a 2016-2020 CAGR of 13 percent.

By 2020, BOE Technology will be the largest China-based AMOLED panel maker and make more than third of the total annual production capacity, Tianma Micro-electronics 17.6 percent, Visionox 14 percent, EverDisplay Optronics (Shanghai) 11.6 percent, China Star Optoelectronics Technology 9.5 percent, Truly Opto-Electronics 7.8 percent and Royole 4.5 percent.

To put all this in some perspective Samsung Display and LG Display had combined annual production capacity of 4.945 million square meters for AMOLED panels in 2016 and the total capacity will increase to 15.130 million square meters in 2020 at a 2016-2020 CAGR of 32.3 per cent.

But these two will focus on expanding their flexible AMOLED panels, with the proportion for flexible models to hike from 46.1 per cent in 2016 to 72.6 per cent in 2020.

All this means that China will soon be taking care of its domestic supply and be presumably worrying foreign companies too.