The OLED-Info newsletter (March 1, 2022)

According to reports from Korea, Samsung decided to use the same OLED material stack (the so-called M11 stack) in its Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone (the M11 was used in the S21 Ultra phone). The lower-end Galaxy S21 still uses the M10 stack, same as in the S20.

The lower-end model did get an update - the S22 Plus has been upgraded to the M11 stack (the S21 Plus used the M10 stack).

BOE demonstrated new foldable OLED prototypes, which it calls the f-OLED N-shaped folding display. The new displays by BOE can be folded both inwardly and outwardly, which allows BOE to present a unique form factor:

BOE's new display is 12.3" in size, and when full folded (two folds) it turns into a 5.6-inch form-factor device. BOE developed a novel hinge system that allows for sliding compensation which improves the strength of the display module. BOE tested the new display for up to 200,000 inward folding cycles and 100,000 outward folding cycles.

Sony's second-gen VR headset, the PlayStation VR2, offers dual 120fps 2000x2040 OLED displays that provide a 110-degree FOV. The VR2 also features eye tracking, four cameras, haptic feedback, 3D audio and a single-cable connection to a PlayStation 5.

Sony did not yet reveal the price or release date of the VR2.

Universal Display reported its financial results for Q4 2021. Revenues for the quarter were $146 million, while net income was $46 million

UDC's 2021 revenues were a record high of $554 million, with a net profit of $184 million. UDC expects the OLED industry to continue to grow in 2022, and the company believes its revenues in 2022 will be between $625 million to $650 million (an increase of 12% - 17%).

Towards the end of 2021, it was reported that Visionox has finalized its LTPO R&D project and is ready to start producing LTPO OLED displays. The company now officially launched its first LTPO AMOLED dipslay, that can offer a dynamic refresh rate, from 1Hz to 120Hz. Visionox expects the first phones to adopt these new displays to be released soon.

The new LTPO AMOLED displays are produced at Visionox's Hefei 6-Gen flexible AMOLED line. This is the first LTPO OLED displays produced in China (previously only Samsung and LG produced such advanced panels).

Vibration-haptic developer Tanvas has collaboration with a "leading display maker" to produce a prototype flexible AMOLED display that incorporates the company's TanvasTouch haptic layer, which provides tactile textures and haptic effects.

Tanvas explains that its surface haptic technology uses proprietary haptic technology to enable tactile textures and effects to be felt as the fingers swipe across the surface of the display. Unlike traditional vibration-based haptics that require actuators to move mass, TanvasTouch is a solid-state solution that can provide different haptic effects simultaneously in multiple zones on the same surface.

Samsung's 2022 Galaxy Book 2 Pro laptop family includes the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 (convertible tablet/laptop) and the Galaxy Book 2 Pro (traditional laptop), both with AMOLED displays (13.3" or 15.6", 1920x1080). The Galaxy Book 2 Business features a 14" LCD.

The Galaxy book 2 Pro laptops feature Intel's 12-Gen Core P-series chipsets and up to 16GB of RAM. The laptops will start shipping by April 2022, starting at $899 for the Core i5 Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360.

DSCC estimates that just over 10 million foldable OLED displays shipped in 2022, and the market is set to grow to 86 million units by 2026 (54% CAGR).

DSCC says that foldable smartphone revenues rose 342% in 2021, and have reached $5.8 billion. The most popular foldable smartphone was the Galaxy Z Flip 3 (51% market share in 2021), followed by the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (26% market share) and the Huawei Mate X2 (6% market share).

The TCL 30 smartphone features a 6.7-inch 1080x2400 900 nits AMOLED display, a Mediatek Helio G37 chipset, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, a microSDXC slot and a triple camera setup. The TCL 30+ offers the same display but with larger storage memory.

The TCL 30 and 30+ will ship by the end of March 2022, starting at around $225.