Samsung Display certifies 10 China i-cafés as QD-OLED venues, eyes 60 by year-end

Samsung Display announced Thursday it is running a promotion with six global monitor brands to designate Chinese internet cafes, known as i-cafés, as certified QD-OLED (quantum dot organic light-emitting diode) venues, accelerating its push into China's gaming monitor market.

Under the program, Samsung Display selects i-cafés that have installed at least 30 QD-OLED monitors and designates them as official certified stores, outfitting each location with certified signage, keyboard and mouse pads, and other branded promotional materials. The six participating brands are AOC, ASUS, HKC, MSI, Titan Army and ViewSonic.

Samsung Display completed the setup of 10 certified venues last month, choosing i-cafés with particularly high foot traffic in major Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai. The company plans to expand the network to 60 locations by year-end.

This marks the first time a display maker has built a cooperative model with i-cafés in the industry. Samsung Display said it intends to leverage these popular gaming spaces to raise awareness of QD-OLED's gaming performance and strengthen its position in the Chinese market.

I-cafés — China's equivalent of PC bangs — account for roughly 30 to 40 percent of gaming OLED monitor sales in the country, making them a key retail channel. According to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of i-café locations grew 17 percent, from about 83,000 in 2024 to about 97,000 last year.

Demand for premium seats equipped with QD-OLED monitors at certified venues is also rising. A representative at one certified store said younger customers and first-person shooter (FPS) gamers particularly value the sharp image quality and visibility in dark scenes.

China's gaming monitor market is expanding rapidly. According to market research firm IDC, sales of gaming monitors in China more than doubled from about 4.93 million units in 2023 to about 11.12 million units last year. Over the same period, sales of self-emissive gaming monitors surged roughly 22-fold, from 25,000 units to 560,000 units.

"This QD-OLED certified store promotion will serve as an important opportunity to show Chinese gamers that QD-OLED is the display technology best suited for high-performance gaming monitors," said Jung Yong-wook, senior vice president and head of the strategic marketing team at Samsung Display's large display business division. "We will continue to strengthen QD-OLED's position in the premium gaming display market through a variety of local marketing activities."