Desktop Monitors Are Being Repriced: Three Things Global Buyers Need to Re-read
If you have been negotiating desktop monitor orders with suppliers recently, you have probably heard two opposite claims: some say "the market is falling, wait a little longer," while others say "prices are about to rise, lock in now."
Both are right, and both are only half the story. Based on public data recently published by Omdia, Future Market Insights and others, the desktop monitor market is going through a structural repricing — total volume is contracting, the product mix is upgrading fast, and the barrier to entering the supply chain is falling faster than ever.
For global buyers, this is not a year to sit on the sidelines. It is a year to recalibrate how you buy. The three points below are the key to reading the current market.
Falling unit shipments do not mean the desktop monitor market has lost momentum. Total volume is contracting while the product mix upgrades, and the two moves are happening at the same time.
Omdia forecasts that global desktop monitor shipments will decline about 4% year on year, with sharp regional divergence — mature markets in North America and Western Europe under pressure, while only Asia-Pacific and Oceania are expected to hold slight positive growth. Over a longer horizon, however, the industry has entered a mature, stable phase, with global shipments holding steady at 130–140 million units between 2025 and 2028, according to Omdia. Short-term swings in volume cannot hide a fundamental shift: replacement demand, not new demand, is now the main driver.
One essential piece of context: global desktop display panel shipments reached 133.4 million units in 2025, up 4.3% year on year, of which gaming monitor panels accounted for 41 million units, up 50.2% — 31.1% of the entire desktop panel market, per Omdia data reported in May 2026. In other words, even while the overall market is under pressure, the gaming segment keeps expanding.
What is actually changing is the tiering of the product mix:
Screen sizes moving up. Demand for small and mid-size mainstream models is gradually shrinking, 27-inch penetration keeps climbing, and 32-inch share is rising steadily. Larger panels both absorb panel capacity and lift product value significantly, per Omdia.
Resolution upgrading. The supply chain is actively cutting the allocation of large-size FHD panels and adding QHD and UHD instead.
Use cases diverging. The shipment share of 240Hz-and-above high refresh rate models keeps rising, and the share of high-spec gaming monitors at QHD, UWQHD and UHD keeps expanding — now the core engine of industry growth, according to Omdia. Data from market research firm Future Market Insights shows that 27–32 inch has become the dominant size band for gaming monitors, holding about 41% share.
Here is a signal that is easy to miss: these upgrades are being pushed by the supply side, not pulled by demand. Panel makers and brands are both actively cutting capacity for low-spec products and shifting resources to higher-value ones. That means over the next 12 to 18 months, "cheap low-spec stock" will become scarcer, while "spec-upgraded new models" become the mainstream supply.
For buyers, the takeaway is direct: plan your product line around next-generation specs now — do not squeeze suppliers on last-generation specs you are trying to clear.
OLED is now a mainstream purchasing option, not a premium experiment. Panel shipments are up 79% year on year and prices have fallen more than 40%, which together have erased the cost gap that kept OLED out of main product lines.
Omdia forecasts OLED monitor panel shipments will reach 6.1 million units, up 79% year on year, then grow further to 7.5 million units the following year.
The driver is a rapid fall in price:
Mainstream 27-inch 240Hz OLED gaming monitors saw price cuts of more than 40% within a single year;
Premium OLED monitors have dropped to roughly USD 350, and are expected to move further toward USD 300, per Omdia's October 2026 press release.
The price gap between OLED and high-end LCD is closing fast.
The implication for purchasing decisions is straightforward. OLED used to be a "premium experiment" category — low volume, high price, high risk. It is now becoming a genuine option you can put on your main product line at scale. Demand structure is widening too: gaming remains the core driver, but professional content creation and commercial office use are explicitly identified by Omdia as the next stage of incremental opportunity.
As Nick Jiang, Principal Analyst for Display and OEM research at Omdia, put it: "Capacity expansion, falling prices and adoption by more brands and OEMs are helping OLED monitors reach a broader market."
In other words, OLED is shifting from "the esports player's exclusive panel" to "the default choice for a wider range of professional users."
Early-mover advantage in OLED purchasing has ended. Buyers who entered the OLED queue in 2023–2025 are seeing their share fall as new brands and OEMs join, which is the most buyer-favourable change in this market.
On the high-growth OLED monitor track, early-entrant brands once enjoyed a clear first-mover bonus. But the latest purchasing data shows that these early adopters' purchase share is actually declining — as more brands and OEMs join the purchasing queue, supply chain leverage is spreading to a wider set of players.
Omdia data shows ASUS remains the world's largest OLED panel buyer with 23% share, while MSI (14%) and TPV (12%) posted notable gains. ASUS, Samsung, LG Electronics and Dell, as early adopters from 2023 to 2025, are expected to see their purchase share decline this year as new players such as HKC, KTC and Gigabyte expand their OLED lines. ASUS itself, citing TrendForce data, confirms it holds 21.6% full-year share as the world's number one OLED monitor brand — corroborating, from the brand's own side, that leadership in this track is concentrating at the top.
Behind this trend is a profound shift in the upstream supply landscape:
Mainland Chinese panel makers' global share of desktop monitor panels is expected to climb to 75%, per Omdia;
Some traditional panel makers keep shrinking shipments under margin pressure, and a few have exited the segment entirely;
Order concentration at leading panel makers is rising, while domestic ODM players keep taking brand outsourcing orders on the strength of stable panel supply, a global manufacturing footprint and cost control.
On the panel technology side, new processes such as inkjet printing (IJP OLED) are pulling the cost curve of mid-size OLED panels downward. The value of the new process is not how extreme its specs are, but that it turns "spec upgrading" from a technology showcase for a handful of makers into a mass-production problem the whole industry can take part in.
This is precisely the other side of a lower supply chain barrier: once upstream technology stops being a moat for a few players, integration capability on the manufacturing side becomes the new dividing line.
Oceanview is one such vertically integrated monitor ODM — it runs its own backlight module and complete-unit assembly lines, covers 18.5" to 49" across its full-process product range, and plans an annual capacity of 3 million units. That lets a brand complete the entire chain — spec definition, sampling and validation, volume delivery — inside a single supplier, instead of coordinating across multiple handoffs. The window for a spec upgrade is typically 12 to 18 months, and the fewer links in the chain, the more controllable your launch timing.
For buyers, this means two things: first, OLED panels are no longer a resource reserved for big brands — new buyers have a seat at the table; second, the concentration of Chinese manufacturing in the display chain actually makes sourcing simpler and more predictable.
Q1: Should I lock in prices now, or keep waiting?
Decide by spec tier, not by timing the market. Total volume sitting in a mature, stable phase means low-spec models offer no first-mover advantage, while supply cuts for low-spec capacity are actively underway. For 27-inch and above at QHD or higher, and 240Hz or higher, supply is tightening fastest — that is the band worth locking in early.
Q2: OLED or high-end LCD — which should I choose now?
Mainstream 27-inch 240Hz OLED fell more than 40% in a year and premium OLED is now around USD 350, so the gap to high-end LCD is closing fast. For mid-to-high-end lines where your customers care about contrast and response time, OLED is now viable for the main product line. For volume-driven models, keep an LCD mix.
Q3: What is the MOQ, and can I place a small trial order?
MOQ is 300 units for standard models. A first order for a new customer can be combined across models, and samples ship in 7–10 days after spec confirmation — so you can validate the market before committing.
Q4: What is the lead time, and does custom housing slow it down?
Standard models ship in 25 days from production release. Models with custom housing take 30–35 days. The window for a spec upgrade is typically only 12 to 18 months, so lead time directly determines whether you make the selling season — confirm the production schedule at the product definition stage.
Q5: Which certifications do you hold for export?
Oceanview holds CE, FCC, CB, RoHS, KC and Energy Star product certifications, plus ISO9001 and BSCI at the system level. Market-specific customs requirements can be confirmed together with your quotation.
Q6: How does custom development work?
Four steps: specification confirmation → sampling and validation (7–10 days) → pilot run → volume delivery. In-house backlight module and assembly lines keep the whole flow inside one supplier, cutting coordination time across handoffs.
Q7: What sizes and specs can you cover?
18.5" to 49", refresh rates from 60Hz to 360Hz, across both LCD and OLED, including 34" to 49" ultrawide and all-in-one kits.
Oceanview (Zéhào Xùnlián) has been in the display industry for 27 years, and is a professional display solution provider integrating product design, R&D, manufacturing, sales and service. Our full-process product range covers 18.5" to 49" LCD and OLED monitors plus all-in-one kits, built on a vertically integrated manufacturing system with a planned annual capacity of 3 million units. We hold ISO9001 and BSCI certification and export to 26 countries and regions worldwide.
For brands and channel partners, we provide integrated support from spec definition and sample validation through to volume delivery — helping you get the right product to the right market faster as the market structure upgrades.
To plan a product line for a specific market or work out landed cost, send us an inquiry — we typically reply within one business day.
All sources below are publicly accessible international publications
[1] Omdia Events — 桌上型显示器市场 2026 年展望（Omdia 中国显示产业研讨会官方页面，作者：Nick Jiang，电视显示与 OEM 供应链领域首席分析师）
Data in this article comes from publicly available reports and press releases by Omdia, Future Market Insights and other international research institutions. All cited links are accessible without login. Statistical definitions differ between institutions; validate against your own market conditions before making purchasing decisions.
Building 4, Zone 4, Wanyang Science and Technology Park, No. 1, Huangyong Industrial Avenue, Huanglong Village, Beijiao Town, Shunde District, Foshan City, China
020-39969989
Email: allen.wang@gdseaview.com
IPv6 network supported
