OLED-Info newsletter

Tight AMOLED supply at SDC

Reports from Taiwan suggest that Oppo is seeing a very strong demand for its AMOLED phones (mostly its newest R9 5.5-inch AMOLED smartphone that s now available for around $500 in the US, unlocked), and the company wished to produce more phones than it initially wanted to. But Samsung Display cannot supply Oppo with enough AMOLED panels as its production is fully booked

On August 25, Oppo's president confirmed this AMOLED shortage - and the company announced that it will release an LCD variant, the R9km (the LCD will be made by Japan Display). This brings me back to 2010 - when announced that they can't meet OLED customer demand. Samsung soon afterwards committed $2.2 billion for a new AMOLED production line, that began production in 2012. Back in 2010 HTC had to switch to an LCD instead of an AMOLED in its Desire smartphone, exactly like what is happening now with Oppo.

Sharp may have to delay its OLED plans, reaches out to JDI

Following Foxconn's $3.5 billion Sharp Takeover, it was reported that Foxconn aims to invest a total of $1.8 billion in OLED technologies, as Foxconn aims to become an OLED supplier to Apple - and be ready with panels in 2107. New reports from Japan suggest that this was too optimistic - and Sharp may have to delay these plans, and it's not clear if OLED could be produced even in 2018.

Sharp now reaches out to Japan Display, hoping to collaborate on OLED development - as JDI is also racing towards OLED production. Sharp's president says that he believes that all display makers in Japan should join-forces, with government support, in order to be able to compete with Korean companies on OLED displays. JDI meanwhile, says that it did not received any official request from Sharp yet.

Samsung's Note 7 - the best mobile display ever

Samsung announced its Galaxy note 7 last week, and our friend Raymond Soneira from Display Mate has published a comprehensive review of the Note 7 display. The Note 7 has a 5.7" 2560x1440 (518 ppi) flexible Super AMOLED dual-edge display - which DisplayMate says is the best performing mobile display ever tested.

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This is hardly a surprise - Samsung's OLED displays have been advancing at a very fast rate, and have surpassed the best LCDs on all parameters (except price, that is). Displaymate says that the major display enhancements introduced in the Note 7 include a new wider color gamut and new HDR mode specifically for 4K videos and a record peak brightness of over 1,000 nits.

Innolux's OLED updates

After years of OLED R&D but no actual reports, Taiwan's Innolux is demonstrated its new OLED prototypes, signalling that the company is finally about to re-enter the OLED market. Innolux says that it has recently "achieved success with AMOLED technology" and now plans to continue development and ultimately mass produce AMOLED panels. One of the prototype on displays is a 5.5" 2560x1440 flexible AMOLED, and the second is a large 12.3" automotive OLED.

Innolux is still not sure whether OLEDs can really compete with LCD - I'm sure most display makers will not agree with this comment, though . In any case, the company aims to ship its first OLEDs (small displays for wearables) in 2017.

AUO's VR AMOLEDs now shipping

Taiwan's AU Optronics is currently focused on VR, wearable and automotive applications for its AMOLED displays. The company recently announced it is developing 3.8" and 5.5" VR AMOLEDs, and this panel is now entering production.

The new panel features a resolution of 1080x1200 and a refresh rate of 90Hz. It is intended for VR HMD applications - which use two such displays, one for each eye. More information on AUO's new panel can be found on the OLED Marketplace.

During a trade show in Taiwan, AUO also demonstrated a new foldable touch-enabled AMOLED. The display is 5" 1280x720 (295 PPI), and is only 0.1 mm with the in-cell touch layer. AUO says the panel withstands over a million folding cycles at a folding radius of 4 mm. The color gamut is 100% NTSC.

20% discount for China's upcoming printed and flexible electronics conference

On January 11-13 Shanghai will host the annual Printed and Flexible Electronics China conference, organized by Demand-LED. This event aims to bring together industry professionals for a chance to be updated on the latest printed electronics advances, while getting a chance to network with industry leaders in China - and globally.

The event focuses on several topics (or tracks), and these include OLEDs, Quantum Dots, sensors, graphene, VR and AR, wearables, wireless power and energy. Approved keynote speakers include professionals from Universal Display, the OLED Association, Visionox, First O-Lite, TCL and more. Demand-LED were kind enough to offer a 20% discount for OLED-Info readers - and this applies both to visitors and exhibitors. Contact us (or simply reply to this mail) for more information on how to get this special discount.

Equipment makers sees the display market shifting from LCD to OLED

The latest report from Applied Material continues the trend we have seen in past months - the shifting of investments from LCD production to OLED production. Applied says that in last year, about 70% of display orders were for LCD equipment, and the rest for OLEDs. But this year the situation is reversed - over 65% of orders are for OLED display equipment.

Driver maker MagnaChip also sees strong demand for AMOLED drivers, and revenue from AMOLED ICs increased over three-fold compared to Q2 2015.

The OLEDs world Summit - discount for OLED-Info readers

For nearly two decades, the OLEDs World Summit has been at the forefront of the rapidly changing lighting and display market place, serving as an annual homecoming and who's-who industry. Here's why you can't afford to miss the OLEDs World Summit:

• A record setting number of presentations. This year's agenda features 35 presentations from leading experts from LG Display, AIXTRON SE, SAES Group, Audi AG, Kateeva and more. View the agenda
• Across three days-10 networking opportunities with 200+ attendees. Connect with peers, colleagues and new customers during networking breaks, meals and receptions. Your colleagues from 3M, Logitech, Sabic, Boeing Company, Ingis Innovations and more have already reserved their delegate tickets.
• Speakers from companies like Lighting Wizards, Kyulux, EMD, Acuity Brands and more slated to provide their expertise. View the speakers

Don't be left out! Time is running out to reserve your delegate ticket ! Click here to reserve your ticket today. OLEDs Info readers can save 10% off the current delegate ticket price by using the promotional code OLEDSINFO16 during the checkout process. Standard ticket pricing ends on Wednesday, September 7 at 11:59 PM EDT.

Universal Display reported $64.4 million in revenues and a net income of $21.8 million - but investors expected better results

VR applications demand very high PPI - and Suni System's new plane-source FMM OLED deposition tech may hold the key for high density OLED deposition.

Japan-based TADF developer startup Kyulux licensed a software platform developed at Harvard that can quickly identify promising OLED molecules

Cadillac's Escala sports three flexible OLED co-developed with LGD in addition to OLED-based tail lighting

AMD says it worked (or is it still working?) with eMagin on microdisplay-based VR

According to UBI, LG Display will have a market share of 53% in 2020 in terms of revenues

Wisechip demonstrated flexible and transparent PMOLEDs, to start producing small transparent OLEDs by the end of 2016

US-based high-index material maker Pixelligent Technologies announced that it closed a $10.4 million financing round. The new funds will be used to install additional manufacturing capacity, open new offices in Asia, and continue its R&D

KGI analysts expects Apple to switch to flexible AMOLED panels for its 2018 iPads

The reviewer finds the OLED display simply stunning, saying that this a transformative display technology.

The report says that due to low demand, SDC decided not to produce 55" transparent OLEDs as planned

UBI sees fast growth in OLED shipments - from 318.8 million in 2016 to 1.35 billion in 2020

Samsung's flagship phablet sports a 5.7-inch 1440x2560 flexible dual-edge Super AMOLED display

Huawei's Honor Note 8 sports a 6.6-inch 1440x2560 Super AMOLED display

Asus' latest smartwatch features a round 1.39" 400x400 AMOLED display