Xiaomi unveils the first smartphone featuring an S-stripe OLED display with 9.38 million subpixels

The global smartphone OLED market is undergoing a significant power shift, with Chinese manufacturers' monthly shipments (39.3 million units, 50.5% market share) surpassing their South Korean counterparts (38.5 million units, 49.5% market share) for the first time in August 2025. This transition is highlighted by Xiaomi's launch of the 17 Pro Max, the first smartphone to feature an advanced S-stripe OLED panel with 9.38 million subpixels. The company is leveraging this 419 PPI display technology in an aggressive strategy to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone 17 series.

This analysis unpacks the shipment data confirming the manufacturing shift, details the technical significance of the S-stripe display, and examines Xiaomi’s competitive positioning.

Smartphone OLED panel monthly shipments by region and maker

In August 2025, six OLED makers - BOE, LG Display, Samsung Display, China Star, Tianma, and Visionox - shipped a total of 77.8 million flexible and rigid OLED panels to the smartphone market, representing a 17.7% month-over-month (MoM) and a 15.1% year-over-year (YoY) increase, respectively. By region, South Korean OLED makers shipped 38.5 million units, while Chinese OLED makers shipped 39.3 million units (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Smartphone OLED panel monthly shipments by region

Notes: Chinese OLED makers include BOE, China Star, Tianma, and Visionox; South Korean makers include Samsung Display and LG Display.

Figure 2 shows the shipment data for each OLED panel maker.

Figure 2: Smartphone OLED (flexible and rigid) panel monthly shipments by maker

• BOE shipped 12.1 million units of flexible OLED panels in August, reflecting 12% MoM and 24% YoY growth. Cumulative shipments for the first eight months of 2025 reached 94.3 million, representing a 12.4% YoY growth. It is worth noting that all of BOE’s OLED products for the smartphone market adopt flexible OLED technology.
• LG Display shipped 6.5 million units of flexible OLED panels in July, representing a 63% MoM growth but a 14% YoY decline. Shipments in the first eight months of 2025 reached 39.1 million, up by 8% YoY. Apple is LG Display’s only customer.
• Samsung Display shipped 32.0 million units of flexible and rigid OLED panels in August, up by 16% MoM and 13% YoY. The company shipped 231.7 million OLED panels in the first eight months of 2025, up by 1.8% YoY.
• China Star’s shipments were 7.5 million units of flexible OLED panels in August, up by 15% MoM and 10% YoY. Cumulative shipments for the first eight months reached 56.3 million units, up by 4.3% YoY. Because China Star has no rigid OLED capacity, all its OLED products adopt flexible OLED technology.
• Tianma shipped 8.6 million units of flexible OLED panels in August, increased by 11% MoM and 34% YoY. In the first eight months of 2025, Tianma shipped 63.5 million units of flexible OLED panels, up by 22% YoY.
• In August, Visionox shipped 11.1 million units of OLED panels, including 9.6 million units of flexible OLED panels and 1.5 million units of rigid OLED panels. The company’s OLED shipments increased by 16% MoM and 27% YoY. Cumulative OLED panel shipments for the first seven months of 2025 were 61.8 million, down by 5% compared with the same period in 2024.
• Two OLED makers, EverDisplay Optronics (EDO) and Truly, produce rigid OLED panels for the low-end and white box smartphone markets. Although Omdia has not yet included the shipments of these makers in its monthly survey, their shipments are reflected in the quarterly shipment survey results.

China Star supplied the 6.85-inch OLED panel with an S-stripe subpixel arrangement and 419 PPI for the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max

Unlike LCDs, OLED panels for smartphones have traditionally adopted a pentile sub-pixel arrangement owing to the precision limitations of fine metal mask (FMM) technology. In 2024, Apple introduced its first OLED tablet - the 13-inch iPad Pro - featuring an S-stripe RGB OLED arrangement produced through FMM. Supplied by LG Display, the panel achieves a pixel density of 265 PPI. By contrast, the OLED panel in Xiaomi’s 17 Pro Max, supplied by China Star, reaches 419 PPI. China Star has long been a key OLED supplier for Xiaomi’s flagship models, though earlier generations typically offered WQHD resolution with pixel densities surpassing 500 PPI.

Tables 1 and 2 show the OLED specifications for Xiaomi and Apple products.

Table 1: The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max vs. Xiaomi 15 Pro

Figure 3 shows the difference between the pentile and S-stripe pixel arrangements in Xiaomi smartphones.

Figure 3: Subpixel structure of Xiaomi 15 Pro (left) and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max (right)

The Xiaomi 17 series targets iPhone users by aligning its naming and sizing with the iPhone 17 series, while adding a rear subdisplay

Xiaomi skipped the Xiaomi 16 series and jumped directly to the Xiaomi 17 series. The company named its latest products to match the iPhone version numbers. The Xiaomi 17 series consist of three models - Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Pro, and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max - similar to the iPhone 17 series available in China. The iPhone Air is not sold in China, as e-SIM has not yet been approved in the country.

The Xiaomi 17 and Xiaomi 17 Pro share the same 6.3-inch LTPO OLED main display, supplied by China Star. However, this display uses a pentile pixel arrangement, unlike the display on the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.

Both the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max also feature a sub display on the back, measuring 2.7-and 2.9-inch, respectively. These small size subdisplays are flexible OLED panels with LTPO backplanes, also supplied by China Star. The subdisplays add a distinctive feature, allowing notifications and status information to be shown on the back of the device.

Figure 4: Xiaomi 17 series