South Korean media outlet ETNews, citing supply chain sources, revealed that BOE, China's leading panel manufacturer, plans to achieve mass production of 8.6-generation (G8.6) OLED panels in May 2026, becoming the world's first manufacturer to enter this technological stage. This move not only marks a historic breakthrough for China in high-end OLED manufacturing but also intensifies competition between China and South Korea in the IT OLED panel market.

BOE's G8.6 production line, located in Chengdu High-tech Zone, will initially produce 14-inch OLED panels, primarily supplying international notebook brands such as ASUS and Acer for high-end ultrabooks and AI PCs. Notably, this timeline is nearly six months ahead of its "Q4 2026 mass production and shipment" plan announced on its investor interaction platform in November, demonstrating its urgency in seizing market opportunities.

Furthermore, BOE plans to utilize this production line to expand its smartphone OLED panel business, further improving capacity utilization and technological synergies.

The G8.6 OLED production line has garnered significant attention due to its ultra-large 2290mm × 2620mm glass substrate, nearly doubling the area of the mainstream 6th generation line (1500mm × 1850mm).

A larger substrate means more medium-to-large-sized panels can be cut in a single batch—for example, a single G8.6 substrate can be used to cut six 14-inch laptop screens, while a 6th generation line can only cut two to three. This not only significantly reduces the cost per unit area but also greatly improves production efficiency, perfectly meeting the growing demand for high-resolution, low-power OLED panels in IT products such as laptops and tablets.

In this technological upgrade race, South Korean companies have long held a dominant position. Samsung Display, a global OLED leader, announced its investment in building the G8.6 IT OLED production line as early as 2023, aiming to supply high-end products such as the Apple MacBook Pro.

According to previous reports, Samsung Display plans to achieve mass production by the end of the second quarter to the third quarter of 2026. However, BOE has successfully achieved a "leapfrog development" by accelerating equipment deployment, optimizing production lines, and leveraging policy support.

Market research firm DSCC predicts that demand for hybrid OLED panels for IT applications will reach 18.9 million units in 2025, a surge of 56% year-on-year. Against this backdrop, whoever can first achieve stable mass production of high-yield, low-cost G8.6 OLED panels will gain control of the high-end PC and tablet supply chain.

Currently, in addition to BOE and Samsung Display, another Chinese panel manufacturer, Visionox, is also accelerating the construction of its G8.6 production line, with trial production expected by the end of 2026. LG Display, on the other hand, is taking a cautious approach, citing a "wait until the market stabilizes" approach as the reason for not yet investing.

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