OLED-Info newsletter

What's up with Apple's OLED iPhone?

Samsung is expected to unveil its first OLED iPhone in September, and early reports suggested that Apple ordered over 80 million flexible OLEDs from SDC - for 2017 alone. In early June ETNews reportedthat SDC is expected to initiate production for Apple soon.

Towards the end of June, however, some industry sources claimed that Apple will have to delay the introduction of its OLED iPhone due to OLED production issues at SDC. Digitimes claims that Samsung faced some challenges with Apple's specific displays, and still suffer from very low yields. According to Digitimes, SDC will only be able to produce 3-4 million OLEDs for Apple by September.

LGD demonstrates a 77-inch flexible and transparent OLED

LG Display announced that it has developed a 77" flexible and transparent OLED display. The display features a resolution of 4K/UHD (3840 x 2160), a 80 mm radius of curvature and 40% transparency.

LG Display demonstrated two possible applications for this display - above you can see the "smart desk" demonstration, and here you can see a commercial retail demonstration. It is not clear from the press release, but it seems that LGD plans to commercialize such a display in the future.

This is the final step in a project that was granted to LGD back in 2012 to develop a large flexible and transparent OLED display. Interestingly, the project goal was to develop a 60" 4K flexible and transparent OLED by 2017 - and LG actually made an even larger display than originally planned.

Samsung to expand its flexible OLED capacity

In April Korean press ran stories that Samsung has started construction of its A4 flexible OLED fab, which was later denied by Samsung. The Korea Economic Daily now states that Samsung is now ready to start construction, which was confirmed apparently by the Asan city government which is expected to approve the plans by July.

Samsung's A4 line will be, according to the report, another 6-Gen fab, similar to its A3 fab which is already in mass production. The A4 will have a monthly capacity of 60,000 substrates (other reports suggest that full capacity will be 135,000 substrates - similar to the A3 line). The A4 is expected to start mass producing panels in 2019. Total cost for this fab is estimated at $7 billion to $11.5 billion.

According to a more recent report, Samsung Display is already considering its next move - the A5 factory which will be Samsung's largest OLED fab yet (and the world's largest, really) - with a monthly capacity of 180,000 to 270,000 6-Gen substrates. This plan has not been approved yet, but it seems like Samsung has already informed of the plans to its key equipment suppliers. The investment in this fab will be large, the buildings alone will cost $1.75 billion. Samsung plans to start operating the fab in 2019.

LGD to produce only OLEDs at its P10 plant

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 to produce both mid-sized flexible OLED and large-sized OLED TV panels. In May 2017 it was reported that LG decided to produce LCD panels rather than OLED panels in its upcoming fab.

According to Business Korea, LGD has confirmed that the P10 plant will indeed be used to produce only OLED displays - and will vote on this decision soon. The P10 fab will be used to make OLED TV panels in addition to small and medium sized flexible OLEDs. LGD has yet to decide exactly how to split the production capacity between large-area and small-area displays.

Production in the P10 fab is expected to begin in the first half of 2018. LGD will reportedly begin its OLED TV production with a 8.5-Gen fab, but will later upgrade it to a 10-Gen fab.

BOE to use Kateeva's inkjet printed to establish a pilot OLED TV production line

In February 2017 BOE Display announced that will establish a new R&D OLED TV production line in Hefei. According to Digitimes, BOE Display is intending to use an inkjet printing process in this line, and the company already placed an order for an inkjet deposition system from Kateeva last month. BOE will use the systems to produce 55" OLED TVs.

BOE already has a 8.5-Gen pilot line in Hefei, which is actually producing commercial OLED TV panels, albeit in very small volumes. It 2014 it was reported that BOE plans a $1 billion OLED TV line in Hefei.

Will Samsung's next VR HMD include a 2,000 PPI OLED?

According to a report from Korea, Samsung is developing its next-generation Gear VR headset, which will include a built-in display (unlike current models which require you to insert your Galaxy smartphone into the device). The report claims that Samsung will adopt a new OLED display in this device - which will achieve a pixel density of 2,000 PPI. Such a high pixel density will be great for VR as it will improve the realism and reduce sickness.

Samsung reportedly demonstrated an 1,200 PPI smartphone-sized OLED in March 2017, and both Sunic Systems and OLEDON claim to have developed technologies that will enable OLED deposition up to 2,250 PPI. In May 2017 Google confirmed it is developing a next-generation OLED display for VR applications - with a pixel density of about 1,800 PPI. Google is developing this display in collaboration with a "leading OLED marker" - which could certainly be Samsung.

All this means that it is quite possible that Samsung will have a 2,000 PPI smartphone-sized OLED display in the near future. Of course another possibility is for Samsung to adopt an OLED microdisplay based solution - such as the ones demonstrated by eMagin and Kopin.

CSOT starts constructing its 6-Gen flexible AMOLED fab in Wuhan

In April 2017 it was reported that TCL-subsidiary China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSoT) decided to construct a 6-Gen LTPS flexible AMOLED production line in Wuhan, China, in a $5.08 billion investment. On June 14th, the company officially started the construction of the new display fab. The new production fab is expected to begin production in Q2 2019, with full mass production achieved by Q1 2020. The fab's capacity will be 45,000 substrates per month, which will be used to make small and medium-sized flexible and foldable OLEDs.

In 2016 CSoT also announced an ambitious plan to construct a $6.96 billion LCD and OLED Gen-11 production fab in Shenzhen. The new fab, built by TCL and Shenzhen Huaxing Power with help from the Shenzhen Economic and Trade Commission, will have a monthly capacity of 90,000 Gen-11 substrates (3370x2940 mm) and use IGZO backplanes. CSoT also announced plans to increase investment in this future fab by a further $3.15 billion, and Samsung will hold a 9.76% stake in this new fab.

CSoT is involved with OLED printing R&D (and in 2016 established a joint venture with TianMa called Guangdong Juhua Printing Display Technology). CSoT aims to use printing technologies to produce large-area OLED TV panels. The small-sized flexible OLEDs in the Wuhan fab will be produced using an evaporation process.

Sharp announced that its upcoming Osaka OLED fab will also be used for large-area OLED development

The Elf VR utilizes Kopin's 2K x 2K Lightning OLED microdisplay to create a light and efficient VR HMD

Canada-based VueReal's will start samplings its new micro-LED display that achieves a resolution of 6,000 PPI

JOLED aims to start producing 21.6-inch 4K OLEDs in low-volume, and the company shipped its first samples to Sony

Pioneer shows its latest flexible-OLED based rear light designs and its transparent-OLED based brake light system

Yeolight's latest panels are only 0.1 mm thick, and these red-emitting panels are designed for demanding automotive environments

In May 2017, Novaled's marketing and communication team were kind enough to have us over for a visit at Novaled's current office and labs, before the company moves to its new premises now under construction

The new 50:50 joint venture, called Konica Minolta Pioneer OLED, was officially established to take charge of all business and product planning, product development, production technology development and marketing functions of both companies' OLED lighting business

A nice video shows BOE's latest displays, including its flexible and foldable OLEDs, full-screen OLEDs, VR displays and more.

Korea-based OLEDON announced a new plane-source evaporation shadow mask process that can achieve 2,250 PPI

Loewe's enrry-range OLED is a 4K 55-inch HDR OLED TV

Loewe's mid-range OLED is a 4K 55-inch / 65-inch HDR OLED TV

Toshiba's first OLED TV uses LGD's 65" 4K WRGB OLED panels and features Toshiba's MEMC technology

Oppo's flagship smartphone for 2017 sports a 5.5-inch FHD AMOLED display

The R11 and R11 Plus are two high-end smartphones that feature large (5.5-inch, 6-inch) FHD AMOLED displays

The Moto Z2 Play is an android smartphone with a 5.5-inch FHD Super AMOLED display

The Gooseneck is cordless (battery-powered) desk lamp designed by Studio SKK in London, that features a single 100 mm round LGD OLED lighting panel