OLED-Info newsletter

Is OSRAM pulling out of the OLED lighting market?

One of our readers reported that during the Light + Building trade show earlier this month, an OSRAM official said that OSRAM is pulling out of the OLED lighting market, and the company will stop all OLED R&D immediately. This is very unfortunate news. OSRAM is the supplier of OLED Lighting panels to Audi and BMW, and according to the OSRAM official at the event the company will continue to provide product support for both automakers until 2020.

I have asked OSRAM to confirm this, and the company sent me this semi-official quote: "as you know, OSRAM was pushing OLED technology during the past years. However, presently it is not clear to us, if market demand will be sufficient to push further industrialization. We continue serving our customer obligations and will follow OLED market development closely."

IHS and DSCC update OLED market outlook

OLED market analysts from DSCC and IHS both updated their estimates for the OLED market. DSCC says that OLED equipment spending will fall 30% in 2018 compared to 2017. OLED spending will outpace LCD spending, but it will not reach the high levels of 2017 in the foreseeable future. DSCC also lowered its OLED material revenue forecasts. The market is still expected to grow very fast at a 25% CAGR from 2017 to 2022. DSCC also published its updated material stack for Samsung's latest OLED displays (used in the Galaxy S9).

IHS also lowered its AMOED market forecasts. IHS now expects flexible smartphone OLED shipments to reach 167 million panels in 2018 - up 34% compared to 2017, but a much lower amount then the company's previous estimates. Total (rigid + flexible) OLED shipments in 2018 will grow 14% to 453 million. Looking at the total OLED market (mobile+TV), IHS says that shipments in 2017 reached 5 million sqm, and it expects the market to grow to 22.4 million sqm by 2024. Growth in 2017 was driven by a doubling of AMOLED TV panel area shipment.

IHS also looked at the under-the-OLED fingerprint sensor market, and it expects an extremely fast growing market - from 9 million units in 2018 to over 100 million units in 2019.

Visionox, BOE, Tianma and EDO all demonstrate new foldable AMOLEDs

Samsung Display is reportedly progressing with its foldable OLED R&D, but the Korean OLED maker is not the only company with such a project. In a recent tradeshow, four OLED makers in China demonstrated foldable display prototypes.

Visionox had a 7.2-inch foldable panel on display, while BOE demonstrated a larger 7.6-inch panel. TianMa had a smaller 5.99" OLED with an impressive 2880x1440 resolution. Finally we have Everdisplay with a 5.5-inch FHD foldable prototype. It is not clear how close these panels are to commercialization, but it is great to see these OLED makers show such advanced technology.

Is TianMa considering the sale of its OLED business?

In April 2017 Chinese display maker TianMa announced that it commenced production at its 6-Gen LTPS AMOLED fab in Wuhan. The fab produces both rigid and flexible OLEDs, and last month Tianma demonstrated several of its latest flexible and foldable panels.

ETNews now reports that TianMa is thinking of selling its OLED business, to Chinese display maker CEC-Panda. According to ETNews, TianMa did manage to produce 1.3 million rigid OLEDs in 2017, however Tianma's OLED losses are higher than expected, and its LCD business is also suffering due to declining LCD prices.

TianMa's OLED ramp-up is slower than planned (this was already reported in February). The rigid part of the fab did not yet achieve full production capacity, and the flexible part is being delayed too - indeed the equipment has not been ordered yet.

Will LGD be able to supply Apple with OLEDs in 2018?

In January 2018 it was reported that LG Display is in the final stages of its discussions with Apple, and the Korean OLED maker expects to supply 15-16 million flexible OLEDs to Apple in 2018 (LGD will supply Apple with 6.5" AMOLEDs for its 2018 large iPhone OLED variant). The Wall Street Journal now reports that LG Display may not be ready to produce these OLED displays in time for Apple - who may once again rely on Samsung Display to produce all of its OLED iPhone displays in 2018.

LGD is already producing smartphone flexible OLED (P-OLED) displays, for example these used in LG's own V30, Google's Pixel 2 XL and Huawei's Mate RS Porsche Design. The first displays were produced at LGD's low-volume E2 line, but the company started to produce at its 6-Gen E5 line.

Reviewers and consumers alike were initially disappointed in LG's AMOLED performance, although it seems that some of these displays performed very well. The new report does not specify if the problem is the low yields at LGD's plants which means it cannot produce enough display, or whether the problem is low display quality (or at least low production consistency).

A new micro-lens array increases OLED light output by a factor of 3

Researchers from the University of Michigan developed a new method to cost-effectively extra more light out of OLED displays. To achieve that, the researchers used a Sub-Electrode Micro-Lens Array (SEMLA) placed between the bottom transparent ITO electrode and the glass substrate.

Testing on green and white PHOLEDs, the researchers say the SEMLA enhanced light output by a factor of 2.8 (green) and 3.1 (white) compared to a similar device without the lens array. The lenses array can be fabricated using conventional photolithography methods which are quite cost effective. Such a micro-lens array does not change the actual OLED production process.

New Micro-LED introduction video

Micro-LED is an interesting display technology that is now entering the market, with many analysts expecting it to become the next-generation technology for large-area displays, small wearables and perhaps microdisplays, VR displays and even smartphone displays down the road.

Our new animation video gives a quick introduction to Micro-LED technologies, production processes and current market status.

Updated OLED market reports

A couple of weeks ago we published new versions of our market reports - that cover the flexible, transparent, VR/AR, microdisplays, automotive and graphene OLED markets. OLED-Info provides comprehensive niche OLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the OLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to April 2018.

For more information on our reports, click here.

A new report from the Korean The Bell claims that Samsung's first foldable AMOLED phone will feature three 3.5-inch OLED displays, and will be folded inwards

Sony's 2018 OLED TVs, the AF8, started shipping in the US: the 55-inch model costs $2,800 while the 65-inch costs $3,800

ITRI published a video that demonstrates its latest foldable OLED tech - which is rapidly approaching commercial standards

DSCC says that the OLED circular polarizer market is set to grow from $428 million in 2017 to $1.27 billion in 2022.

High-index material developer Pixelligent raised $7.6 million and announces it is collaborating with Kateeva to develop materials for OLED inkjet printing

Samsung admits that it is researching QD-OLEDs, but currently the company is sticking to its two-track (Micro-LED / QDLCD) strategy for premium TVs

ITRI developed new flexible panels and can increase its production capacity to 50,00 monthly panels

We have added new 0.95-inch, 1.19-inch round and a 1.41-inch EDO AMOLEDs to our catalog.

OLED materials producer Idemitsu Kosan established a new OLED production subsidiary in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

An ultra-premium smartphone that sports a 6-inch 1440x2880 LGD P-OLED display

A mid-range smartphone that sports a 5.5-inch 1280x720 Super AMOLED display

A smart health watch with a 1.3-inch PMOLED and a CVD graphene touch panel

The Miezu 15 is a mid-range smartphone that features a 5.46-inch FHD AMOLED display, while the 15 Plus sports a larger 5.95-inch 2560x1440 AMOLED.

Toshiba's flagship 2018 TV uses a WRGB (55/65 inch) OLED panels and support HDR10, HLG and DV HDR.