For years, Japan’s Wacom was the dominant brand in the global pen display market. That began to change in 2010, when China’s XPPen entered the segment and grew into the world’s second largest seller.
XPPen is a brand under Hanvon Ugee, founded in 2005. Its product lineup includes pen displays, pen tablets, drawing tablets, and stylus devices, built on technologies such as electromagnetic resonance (EMR), the X3 smart chip, and digital pen systems.
Unlike tablet makers that pursue broad entertainment use cases, XPPen has focused on targeted positioning and competitive pricing. This approach has allowed the company to establish itself and sustain steady growth.
The market remains niche. Core users are professional creators such as illustrators, animators, and industrial designers, which represent a small segment of the wider consumer base. According to Adobe, there are about 12 million professional digital artists worldwide, representing only 0.3% of internet users.
This group, however, is willing to pay for quality. They are highly sensitive to performance, use their devices frequently, and tend to keep them for long cycles. Once they adopt a product, they rarely switch brands.
As a result, pen displays have generally remained outside the mainstream investor spotlight, yet the segment has grown into a lucrative niche.
Technavio estimates the global pen display market at USD 1.58 billion in 2023, with projections of USD 2.43 billion by 2027, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 11.2%, well above that of other traditional consumer electronics categories.
“The market is evolving in two dimensions, it’s not just product upgrades but a restructuring of the digital creation ecosystem,” Li Yuanzhi, general manager of Hanvon Ugee, told 36Kr. “On one hand, professionals are demanding more refined performance, such as higher color accuracy and pressure sensitivity. On the other, mobile creation is pushing devices toward lighter, wireless, and smarter designs.”
Unlike many consumer electronics, pen displays rarely succeed with a single breakout product. XPPen has instead taken a gradual approach, developing professional-grade tools and catering to niche needs. In the growing creator economy, this kind of steady strategy is proving resilient.
From production tool to consumer product
Pen displays are not a new category. Long before XPPen’s combined global shipments of tablets and displays surpassed 10 million units in 2023, the brand had cultivated the Japanese market for nearly two decades.
Early-generation models were more like PC accessories. They connected via cables, relied on desktop processing, and were typically under ten inches in size. Limited accuracy and slow response times made them inadequate for professional work. Software and operating system dependencies further constrained adoption, leaving most users confined to design firms where pen displays served mainly for sketching and drafting. Consumer awareness remained low.
That began to shift after 2010. Advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing brought sharper displays with higher pressure sensitivity levels, enabling more precise line and shading control. EMR technology also became more common, reducing reliance on cables and improving portability. Meanwhile, software developers like Adobe optimized their tools for pen displays, expanding use cases.
XPPen gained traction during this period, particularly in Japan, where it had already earned recognition among creators. For Li and his team, these shifts signaled the potential for pen displays to move beyond professional studios into broader consumer markets.
In this category, precision, responsiveness, and tactile feel directly affect creative output. Devices must deliver near-zero latency, avoid jittery strokes, and simulate the friction of pen on paper. Achieving this requires tight integration across the primary components.
According to Li, the critical area of R&D is how the stylus and its chipset process signals with sensitivity, stability, and reliability. Unlike most competitors that use capacitive or analog pens, XPPen developed its own dedicated chip to manage pen input. It captures millimeter-level movements and gram-level pressure changes, filtering out interference from nearby electronic devices such as phones or smartwatches. The result is consistent, precise strokes across environments.
Displays further shape the user experience. XPPen models typically feature paper-like films made with anti-glare nano-etching technology, which mimics the resistance of drawing paper. This reduces the slippery feel of glass, improves line control, and cuts glare for better visibility.
Today, XPPen sells products across its Artist, Artist Pro, Deco, Deco Pro, and Magic series, with prices ranging USD 150–1,500 and targeting everyone from hobbyists to professional designers.
Starting in Asian markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Indonesia, XPPen said it has since expanded to 163 countries and regions, including Europe and the US. According to 36Kr, its annual revenue is in the nine-figure RMB range, with cumulative sales exceeding ten million units. It reportedly ranks second worldwide by market share and holds the top spot in markets such as France, Russia, and India.
Personalization through intelligence
Pen displays are entering a new phase focused on enhanced user experiences, even as the overall customer base remains steady.
XPPen’s research highlights diverging expectations: professionals value stroke realism, pressure sensitivity, and color accuracy, while casual creators prioritize affordability, ease of use, cross-platform compatibility, and software support.
At the same time, usage time is rising as digital creation and remote collaboration become routine. A single device must now accommodate varied needs, and with mobile workflows mainstream, juggling multiple tools has become inefficient.
“The rise of artificial intelligence means users no longer settle for incremental improvements. They want devices that can sense, understand, and even anticipate needs. Devices that deliver lightweight, intelligent, and seamlessly compatible experiences,” Li said.
For users, the ideal device delivers consistent performance over long cycles, minimizes the need to switch tools, and integrates adaptive features, while fitting into broader software ecosystems and reflecting human-centered design.
Building on its strengths in responsiveness and display technology, XPPen is focusing on integrated, intelligent workflows in its upcoming product line.
In AI, the company is developing a proprietary creative system that interprets user intent in real time, analyzes composition, and generates visual suggestions tailored to individual styles. It is also planning a digital copyright platform to record and encrypt creative processes, safeguarding authorship rights.
Regional preferences shape product design as well. East Asian users tend to favor smaller, more refined devices, while users in Europe and the US prefer larger formats with minimalist aesthetics. XPPen tailors its SKUs accordingly.
On the distribution side, the company has built overseas warehouses and sells online through its website, Amazon, and regional e-commerce platforms, including those in smaller-language markets. Offline, it engages users through anime conventions, training centers, electronics retailers, and branded stores.
While the user base remains limited in size, it continues to pay for quality. Rather than pursuing mass market success, XPPen focuses on long-term relationships within the creator economy by iterating on professional products, fostering communities, and providing comprehensive support.
As hardware performance converges, differentiation depends on a brand’s ability to deliver reliable, efficient, and engaging creative experiences.
XPPen’s trajectory reflects the strategy of focused hardware companies: sustainable advantages stem not only from technical specifications but also from addressing the evolving needs of specialized users and growing in step with the creator ecosystem.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Huang Nan for 36Kr.