The OLED-Info newsletter (February 7, 2023)

Samsung Electronics reported its financial results for Q4 2022, with revenues of $57.3 billion, and an operating profit of $3.5 billion.

Samsung says that the "business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown". SDC's mobile AMOLED panel business earning declined, as demand for smartphones fell, but its large-area panel business seen a smaller loss as it is increasing sales of QD-OLED panels.

OLED-Info and our sister site MicroLED-Info are happy to announce the 2023 edition of The MicroLED Handbook. This book is a comprehensive guide to MicroLED display technology, industry and market. MicroLED displays are thin, efficient, bright and flexible and are on track to revolutionize the display industry. The handbook is now updated to January 2023 and lists recent developments and new companies, initiatives and research activities.

Reading this book, you'll learn all about:

• MicroLED technology, materials and production processes
• How MicroLEDs compare to LCDs and OLEDs
• What are the challenges towards commercial production
• LED technology and manufacturing processes
• MicroLED driving and full-color architectures
• The MicroLED displays currently on the market

The book also provides: The book also provides: an in-depth guide to MicroLED Microdisplays, potential applications of MicroLED displays, a comprehensive list of MicroLED companies, an introduction to other emerging display technologies (such as quantum dots and OLEDs), a current overview of the MicroLED market, market and industry forecasts and much more!

In early 2022,Shiftall (a Panasonic Subsidiary) launched the MeganeX lightweight VR glasses based on dual 1.3" 120Hz 2560x2560 dual-stack OLED microdisplays produced by Kopin and LakeSide Optoelectronics.

Panasonic aimed to start shipping the MeganeX in early 2022, but it was delayed and now it plans to ship it by March 2023 (which will mean that in total it took around 6 years of development). Panasonic further says that as Kopin's production (at Lakeside) suffers from very low yields, it had to increase the price of the display and so the cost of the VR headset increased from 100,000 Yen (around $750) to 250,000 Yen (almost $2,000).

Researchers from Germany's Max Planck Institute, led by Prof. Paul W.M. Blom, are looking into single-layer OLED devices (in which a single emitting layer is sandwiched between two electrodes), with an aim to match their efficiencies to those of common multilayer OLED stacks, like the ones used in commercial OLED displays.

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Current OLED architectures utilize multilayer stacks of materials, in order to increase the performance and lifetime of OLED devices. But according to the latest findings by Prof. Blom, equal efficiencies can indeed be met with single-layer TADF OLED emitters - and there's no fundamental reason or major benefits that arise from multilayer OLEDs.

The MicroLED Industry Association published today a new white paper, that is focused on MicroLED production yields. This whitepaper discusses microLED yields, the current status, challenges ahead and several strategies and technologies that should help to mitigate the yield problem. Together with the white paper, the association is also hosting an open webinar.

Yield is an important parameter for display makers, as low yields can drastically increase production costs per panel sold. In the microLED industry, yields are even more crucial and are still a major challenge. In addition, as microLED production involves several separate steps, the yield discussion is more complex compared to the situation in LCD or OLED production.

The white paper is published on the MicroLED Association's website, and is open to the public.

DSCC says that even though the display market is facing difficult market conditions, the automotive displays segment is expected to continue growing, and total shipments (both LCDs and OLEDs) are expected to exceed 200 million panels (an average of over 2 displays per car).

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OLEDs are still a small percentage of the market (less than 0.5%, in fact), but OLEDs will gradually penetrate high-end applications for flagship models, as OLED makers adopt flexible and tandem-architecture technologies.