The OLED-Info newsletter (February 22, 2022)

Demand for larger mobile OLED displays, for laptops, tablets and monitors is on the rise, and OLED makers (Led by Samsung Display)are planning to establish 8.5-Gen OLED production fabs dedicated for IT panels. The leading maker is

DSCC posted a very interesting article with predictions on this new development in the industry, saying that there are currently 11 different 15K G8.5/G8.6 IT OLED lines under development.

According to ETNews, BOE reduced its AMOLED production for Apple to about 2-3 months in February and March, down from around 9-10 million units it originally planned to produced, as the company failed to secure enough driver ICs.

ETNews says that LX Semicon (previously Silicon Works) cannot supply BOE with enough driver chips. Most of the company's chips will be supplied to LG's OLED panels. BOE is now likely to meet its goal of producing 40 million AMOLEDs this year, out which 30 million were to ship to Apple.

Magnachip announced that it has started mass-producing OLED display driver integrated circuit (OLED DDIC) for OLED TVs.

Magnachip says that its new DDIC supports a maximum of 960 source output channels and can be coupled with a Chip On Film (COF) package and a high-speed serial interface. The new driver is based on enhanced high-voltage analog process technology. The chips supports various resolutions between HD (1,366 x 768) and UHD 4K (3,840 x 2,160), and can support panel sizes ranging from 40 to 80 inches.

China-based Tianma announced that it has started producing flexible AMOLED displays at its 6-Gen production line in Xiamen. This is just the first production runs, it will probably take some time for Tianma to ramp up production.

Total investment in Tianma's new fab (TM18) is estimated at $6.8 billion USD and the monthly capacity will be 48,000 6-Gen substrates. The company says that this is the largest flexible AMOLED production line in China, and it is also the largest ever investment in Xiamen's history.

IDC estimates that 7.1 million foldable smartphones shipped in 2021, an increase of 264% over 2020 (1.9 million units). IDC estimates that the market will grow to 27.6 million units by 2025 (a CAGR of 69.9%).

Most of the growth in 2021 came from Samsung's Galaxy Flip3 which was a success in the market thanks to its compact size and price tag ($999).

Notion Systems, a leading solution provider for industrial inkjet systems, announced that it had successfully installed an n.jet display system at Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). The n.jet display system was developed in collaboration with MBraun/Germany and includes a fully integrated inert glove box solution that combines compact design with minimized nitrogen consumption.

ITRI is now using the new n.jet display system to research and develop novel OLED and QLED technologies. ITRI has developed many OLED technologies over the years, and it is now looking to replace vapor deposition and vacuum coating with inkjet printing which could reduce the number of steps, increase material utilization and increase display quality.

Market research firm Omdia says that LG Electronics shipped over 4 million OLED TVs in 2021, more than double its shipments in 2020. In the fourth quarter alone, LGE shipped 1.41 million OLED TVs.

Omdia expects LG to double its shipments again in 2022 and reach sales of over 8 million TVs. The total OLED TV market, according to Omdia, was 6.5 million OLED TVs in 2021 (LGE holds a 62% market share).