OLED-Info newsletter

Visionox starts producing flexible AMOLEDs

China-based OLED producer Visionox announced that it started to produce flexible AMOLED displays at its new 6-Gen OLED fab in Hebei Province. The new line has a monthly capacity of 30,000 substrates (although it is likely that it will take some time before the new fab runs at full capacity).

Visionox's first flexible OLED fab total investment is around $4.5 billion. Visionox is already producing rigid AMOLEd and PMOLED displays.

Apple to use OLEDs in all of its 2019 iPhone models?

Apple started adopting OLEDs in the 2017 iPhone X, and it is expected that it will introduce one or two new OLED modules in its iPhone lineup in 2018 (which will likely include a total of 3 phone models).

A new report from Korea's ETNews suggests that Apple decided to exclusively use OLED displays for all of its iPhone models in 2019. As OLEDs provide a better image quality, and are also thinner, lighter, flexible and more efficient than LCDs, it is only a matter of time until all of Apple's iPhones and mobile device make the switch to OLEDs.

Of course a major drawback of OLED displays to Apple is the higher price, especially as Apple still depends on Samsung as an exclusive supplier. By 2019 this could change, of course, and Apple might be able to secure OLEDs from LGD, and perhaps from BOE or other makers in China as well.

TCL/CSoT announces OLED TV production plans

TCL announced that its CSoT Subsidiary (China Star, also known as Shenzhen Huaxing Photoelectric Technology) plans to establish an LCD+OLED TV fab in Shenzhen, China. The new fab will have a monthly capacity of 90,000 substrate - and will produce 65- and 75-inch OLED TVs in addition to 65-, 75- and 75-inch 8K LCDs, all on Oxide-TFT backplanes. The line will begin operation in 2021.

The fab will apparently have two different production lines. The LCD line will be a 11-Gen line (3370x2940 mm) while the OLED Line will use smaller 8.5-Gen substrates (although this is not clear, CSoT may aim to use the 11-Gen substrates for OLED deposition too, perhaps cutting these large substrates before the OLED processing. Total investment in this new fab will be 42.6 billion Yuan (or about $6.7 billion USD).

CSoT has apparently signed agreement with the local government in Guandong province that will help fund the project. CSoT is owned by TCL, the Century Science & Technology Investment fund and Samsung Display (which holds around 5%). The company is producing small and large LCD panels and is building its first AMOLED fab in Wuhan - the 6-Gen flexible AMOLED T4 fab that is expected to begin production in Q2 2019, with full mass production achieved by 2020. The T4 capacity will be 45,000 substrates per month, and it will be used to make small and medium-sized flexible and foldable OLEDs.

TCL/CSoT has been planning to start OLED TV production for a long time. Towards the end of 2013 it was reported that TCL and CSOT will invest 24.4 billion yuan (just over $4 billion) to build a new 8.5-Gen LCD+OLED TV fab in Shenzhen. In 2016 TCL revised this plan - which said the line will use 11-Gen substrates and will be built by 2019. It's great to see TCL still committed to OLED TV production, but time will tell whether this time it will actually go ahead with its plans.

TCL is developing ink-jet printing technologies for OLED TV production, and has recently announced it has developed a 31" 4K printed OLED panel. It is not clear whether it aims to use a printing or an evaporation process in its upcoming fab.

Sony announces the world's smallest pixel pitch OLED microdisplay

Sony launched a new OLED microdisplay, the ECX339A, which has the world's smallest pixel pitch (according to Sony) at 6.3um. The 0.5-inch microdisplay's resolution is 1600x1200 (UXGA) and it supports a frame rate of up to 240 fps. The maximum brightness is 1,000 nits.

Sony already started sampling this new microdisplay in January 2018, and mass production is planned for November 2018. The price of each sample is ¥50,000 - or about $460 USD.

The new microdisplay uses a new drive circuit design, that operates at half the voltage of Sony's previous microdisplays. The new microdisplay features the same power consumption of Sony's older generation 0.5" display even though the resolution is much higher. In this new display Sony also updated the production process and it now deposits the color filters directly on the silicon substrates - which results in larger viewing angles.

Applied Materials provides its OLED outlook

Applied Materials reported its financial results for Q1 2018 last week - the semiconductor equipment maker's revenues increased 29% from Q1 2017 to reach an all-time record. The company's outlook, however, was weaker than expected.

Commenting on the display market, Applied believes that TV equipment orders will remain strong - but it says adoption of OLEDs in mobiles is slower than previously expected, as is the ramp-up in production. Applied expects its 2019 OLED related revenues to be lower than its 2018 ones (but still up nicely from 2018). In the longer term, applied Materials maintains a positive outlook for its OLED business.

SID DisplayWeek 2018

The world's leading display conference, SID DisplayWeek, is now over, and it was a great event, showcasing the latest OLEDs, LCDs, Micro-LEDs and other display technologies.

OLED-Info will provide detailed posts on the various OLED prototypes and technologies we saw at SID - and we will soon send an e-mail newsletter dedicated to Displayweek. In the meantime you can read our first impressions from SID here.

Magnachip says growth in its OLED driver business is stronger than expected, launches a new 40-nm DDIC drivers for edge-type, notch-type, bezel-less and 21:9 AMOLEDs

According to a ZDNet report, the LG OLED TVs at Incheon Airport, installed only a few months ago, suffer from serious permanent image-retention, or burn-in. According to a second report, LG replaced some of these TVs with LCDs.

The nice Touch CMS, developed by Bombardier and Lufthansa, is the first aircraft device to adopt an OLED display.

UDC's results were lower than the company expected, due to a slowdown in the premium smartphone market, the company's new accounting standard and the inventory pre-purchase the company reported in Q4 2017.

IHS explains that cutting the notch results in yield loss, which is the main driver of the higher costs. In theory, cutting a plastic OLED is easier than the glass-based LCDs, and IHS forecasts that manufacturing costs for notch OLEDs will fall more rapidly than the costs of notch LCDs.

The Latest One Plus flagship smartphone features a notch-type 6.28-inch 2280x1080 optic-AMOLED (Super AMOLED)

Mid-range smartphones with 5.6-inch 720x1480 (6-inch 1080x2200 in the A6+) Infinity Display Super AMOLED

The Mi 8 is a large-size smartphone with a 6.21-inch 1080x2248 notch-type Super AMOLED display. The Mi 8 Se is a smaller version with a 5.88-inch 1080x2244 Super AMOLED

Xiaomi's third-gen Mi Band features a 0.78-inch 128x80 monochrome white PMOLED

The X21i smartphone features a 6.28-inch 1080x2280 notch-type Super AMOLED

Shearwater's first dive watch, the Teric uses a 1.4-inch 400x400 round AMOLED display

An entry-level smartphone that features a 5.5-inch 720x1280 Super AMOLED Infinity display

An entry-level smartphone that features a 5.6-inch 720x1480 Super AMOLED Infinity display

An entry-level smartphone that features a 6-inch 720x1480 Super AMOLED Infinity display