OLED-Info newsletter

Updates on Apple's upcoming OLED iPhone

There are many reports that detail Apple's 2017 iPhone lineup, and it seems quite certain that Apple will indeed release a high-end iPhone model that will adopt a flexible OLED. Those OLEDs will be produced by Samsung Display, to which Apple apparently paid $4 billion in advance to secure those displays. According to a report from Korea, Apple ordered an extra 60 million flexible OLED panels from Samsung Display for the next-generation iPhone, in a deal worth $4.3 billion.

All previous reports suggested that Apple will only use OLED displays in a high-end version of the iPhone - but 160 million displays is about 80% of Apple's entire yearly sales - which seems a bit high for the first generation OLED iPhone.

According to a new report from Fast Company, Apple will introduce three new iPhones in 2017 - the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus, with 4.7" and 5.5" LCD displays, and premium 5.8" iPhone that will sport the OLED display. Fast Company says that this phone will be called the iPhone X (as in the 10th iPhone), and it will introduce several new features (besides the new display technology) - and carry a price tag of over $1,000 - which is high but consider that Apple's priciest iPhone (the 7 Plus 256GB) costs $969 today.

Most analysts estimate that Apple will use a flexible curved OLED, but TrendForce, following talks to supply chain sources, says that Apple was not happy with the production yields and drop-test results of those flexible OLEDs, and the company decided to adopt a flat display (with rounded edges, what is called 2.5D glass). This design is similar to the one used in current iPhone models. TrendForce estimates that Apple will still use an AMOLED display, but a rigid one.

The most interesting report of the month, from Bloomberg, says that Apple is in discussions with BOE Display to supply OLED displays for next generation iPhones. BOE's OLED capacity is far from enough to support Apple, and the company's OLEDs are not up to part with Samsung's displays at this stage. Bloomberg says that Apple considers BOE for its 2018 phones, but that seems too soon for BOE. BOE has ambitious plans for two OLED fabs (Gen-6 in Chengdu and another Gen-6 in Mianyang), so this is not entirely unrealistic.

LGD progresses with its P10 OLED fab

Towards the end of 2015 LG Display announced that it plans to build a new OLED fab (P10) in Paju in a $8.7 billion investment. The P10 will produce both mid-sized flexible OLED and large-sized OLED TV panels. Production was planned for the first half of 2018.

New reports from Korea suggest that LG is indeed constructing the new fab (as can be seen in the image above) and the company is on track to finish the project by Q2 2018 (although mass production will probable take longer).

LGD's original plan was to build a Gen-9 line for the OLED TV production, but LGD apparently is also considering an even larger Gen-10 substrate and is working with Korean OLED deposition equipment maker YAS to develop the required equipment. YAS supplied LGD with Gen-8 equipment for its current OLED TV lines. LGD says that the company will make its final decision on the Gen-10 line during the first half of 2017.

UDC reports an excellent quarter, to double production capacity

Universal Display announced strong results Q4 2016: revenues were $74.6, up 20% from Q4 2015 and net income was $25.8 million. UDC's revenues in 2016 reached $198.9 million, up slightly from 2015 ($191 million) - mostly driven by higher royalty and license fees (commercial material sales revenues were lower than in 2015). Net income in 2016 was $48.1 million, and operating cash flow was $80.3 million.

UDC sees an extremely positive momentum in its business and the company is "well positioned to capture the tremendous opportunities" in the OLED market. For 2017, UDC believes that its revenues will be in the range of $230 million to $250 million. UDC also announced its first dividend - a quarterly cash dividend of $0.03 per share ($1.4 million in total).

UDC also announced that the company will invest $15 million in PPG Industries' OLED facility in Barberton, Ohio. PPG will double its commercial production capacity of UDC's phosphorescent OLED emitter materials. The capacity expansion is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter 2017.

Updates on LG's 2017 OLED TV lineup

LG revealed its 2017 OLED TV lineup in January at CES, but the company did not yet disclose the price or actual release date of these new TVs. Value Electronics sent us the release dates and prices of LG's entire 2017 lineup. This is not official prices, and final prices may end up lower than the ones listed below.

• OLED55C7P $3,499 Week of 2/27
• OLED65C7P $4,499 Week of 2/27
• OLED55E7P $4,499 Week of 4/1
• OLED65E7P $5,999 Week of 3/20
• OLED65G7P $6,999 Week of 3/27
• OLED77G7P $16,999 Week of 4/24
• OLED65W7P $7,999 Week of 2/27
• OLED77W7P $19,999 Week of 6/26

Amazon.com already lists some of these TVs, and some of its prices are lower than what was given by LG. You can Amazon product pages here: 55" OLEDC7, 65" OLEDE7, 65" OLEDG7. Finally, LG already launched the Signature OLED W (wallpaper) series in Korea - the 65" is already shipping for 14 million won ($12,300).

Chinese OLED capacity to grow at a CAGR of 130%

According to Digitimes Research, OLED display makers in China will increase their total annual capacity from 272,000 m² in 2016 to 7.86 million m² in 2020 - a CAGR or 131.9%. The largest producer in 2020 will be BOE Display (35% of the Chinese OLED market), followed by Tianma (17.6%), Visionox (14%), Everdisplay (11.6%), CSoT (9.5%), Truly (7.8%) and Royole (4.5%).

Korea will remain the world's largest OLED producer, with over 15 million m² annual capacity in 2020 (up from 4.95 million m² in 2016, a CAGR of 32.3%). For an overview of the Chinese and Korean OLED production industry, check out our State of the AMOLED industry article from October 2016.

Meet the OLED-Info team at Printed Electronics Europe 2017

On May 10-11, IdTechEx will host its annual Printed Electronics Europe event that will focus on the commercialization of printed, organic and flexible electronics. The OLED-Info team will visit this event, so if anyone wishes to schedule a meeting - now is a great time to do so!

This event (which according to IdTechEx is the largest event of its kind) includes a conference, an exhibition, forums, startup launchpads and live demonstrations. The printed electronics show is also co-located with eight other events focused on 3D printing, graphene and 2D materials, electric vehicles, energy harvesting, energy storage, internet of things, wearables and sensors.

HS says that the OLED industry is now entering a huge capacity-growth phase, and out of the $9.5 billion in 2017 the organic layer deposition market will reach 2.2 billion and the encapsulation tools market will reach $1.2 billion

Researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) developed a stretchable circuit that includes an OLED display, produced entirely using an ink-jet printer.

Applied's CEO estimates that we are in the early innings of the adoption of OLED into mobile devices.

UBI Research estimates that Samsung Display's AMOLED market share will be 89% in 2017, but this will fall in coming yeras as more and more OLED producers join the market.

Rolic develops materials that improve light outcoupling, lifetime and efficiency for OLED displays and lighting panels.

BOE announced that it signed an agreement with a Hefei municipal government to co-invest around $145 million USD in a new OLED TV production line

A family (55-inch and 65-inch) of high-end flat 4K WRGB OLED TVs

A professional Windows 10 tablet with a 12-inch 2160x1440 Super AMOLED display

A gaming and entertainment optimized tablet with a 9.7-inch 2048x1536 Super AMOLED display

An Android Wear 2.0 device designed in collaboration with Google, with a round 1.2-inch 360x360 flexible OLED display

An Android Wear 2.0 device designed in collaboration with Google, with a round 1.38-inch 480x480 flexible OLED display