The OLED-Info newsletter, July 2018
Published: Tue, 07/03/18
OLED market updates
Samsung Display's OLED fab utilization has fallen sharply due to lower-than-expected shipments to Apple, but according to market analysts, the recovery is already under way. DSCC says that OLED utilization has started to improve as SDC is starting to produce new OLED displays for new smartphones by Samsung, Apple and other makers.
According to DSCC, SDC's utilization rates started to improve in May 2018, with the rigid A2 OLED fab expected to exceed 80% in June. DSCC says that 5.5-inch to 6-inch rigid OLEDs cost will fall to $23 in Q3 2018, with the price premium over LTPS LCDs will be around $5. DSCC says that at such a small gap they expect demand for rigid OLEDs will remain strong. At Samsung's A3 flexible OLED fab the utilization rates have increased too, but these are still low - 31% in April and 37% in May. In June the utilization rate are expected to rise to 52%, as Samsung started to produce 5.85" panels for the next-gen iPhone X in May and 6.46" for the next-gen iPhone X Plus in June.
UBI Research says that Samsung Display's OLED shipments dropped 26% in Q1 2018 (compared to Q4 2017) to reach 88 million units (that's 4.7% lower than Q1 2017). UBI agrees with DSCC and says that saysshipments are expected to recover in Q2 2018.
Institutional brokerage and investment group CLSA says that it is too soon to talk about an OLED recovery. CLSA agrees that SDC's fab utilization will rise from about 35% to 80% in the second half of 2018, but CLSA also believes that Samsung is not even considering the A4 fab (30,000 monthly substrates) which will remain idle, which means that actual utilization will be lower than stated. CLSA further says that OLED production at BOE and Visionox will be lower than expected in 2018.
CLSA says recovery at the OLED sector may take longer than expected - especially in the equipment space. DSCC also estimates that OLED equipment spending will continue and decline - and strong demand will return only in 2020.
Apple OLED updates
More and more reports suggest that Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup (to be introduced in September 2018) will include two OLED models and one LCD models. A report from Korea suggests that Apple ordered 45 million 6.5" OLED panels from SDC for the iPhone Xs Plus and only 25 million for the smaller 5.84" iPhone Xs - to a total of 70 million panels. For the lower-end LCD model, Apple ordered only 30 million panels (from Japan Display).
These are relatively low orders from Apple. The Nikkei Asian Review also confirms that Apple approached suppliers and told them that component orders for the new iPhones will be lower by 20% compared to the iPhones launched in 2017.
In early 2018 it was reported that Apple may use LGD's 6.5" AMOLED displays for its largest iPhone Xs+ variant, but later reports suggested that LG Display may not be ready to produce these OLED displays in time for Apple. At the end of June, though, Bloomberg said that LGD will indeed supply OLEDs to Apple this year - but only 2-4 million panels.
Wisechip and Kyulux to bring a flexible TADF/HF PMOLED to the market by the end of 2018
Kyulux and Wisechip unveiled a flexible PMOLED display that uses Kyulux’s Hyperfluoresence yellow emitter. Wisechip says that the power consumption of this display is almost half of Wisechip's regular fluorescent yellow PMOLED.
The first flexible HF PMOLED is a 1.71″ 256x64 display, that is now ready to be produced (Wisechip says this will enter mass production before the end of 2018). Wisechip originally aimed to introduce its first glass-based HF yellow emitter PMOLED by the end of 2017, but it seems they decided to jump straight to a flexible panel.
CSoT details its OLED ink-jet printing plans
In May 2018 CSoT (TCL) announced plans to establish a 11-Gen LCD+OLED TV fab in Shenzhen, China. Details on the OLED part of that fab were not given, but now we have some updates following the company's investor day. The new fab will use Oxide-TFT backplanes, and it turns out that the OLED part of the fab will also use the 11-Gen substrates (which may be cut for the actual OLED front plane deposition). Out of the entire capacity of 90,000 monthly substrates, the OLED line will use 20,000 substrates. The fab will start mass production in 2021.
The more interesting news is that CSoT is progressing in its ink-jet printing project and thec company collaborates with Kateeva, Sumitomo Chemical, Merck, Dupont and Tianma - in addition to University research groups in China. CSoT believes that ink-jet printing of OLED TVs will be feasible within 3-5 years, which means that it could be used in the new 11-Gen fab, but it is likely that the fab will at least initially use an evaporation-based process.
SDC is building a QD-OLED TV pilot production line
In February 2018 it was first reported that Samsung Display is developing TV panels based on hybrid quantum-dots and OLED architecture (QD-OLED). Samsung later confirmed it is developing such technology, but with no immediate plans to commercialize it.
ETNews now reports that Samsung is now working to establish a pilot 8-Gen line for QD-OLED production. ETNews says that Samsung is collaborating with both Canon Tokki and Kateeva to develop the production equipment - apparently the OLED layers will be evaporated using Canon's machines while the QD filters will be deposited using ink-jet printing equipment made by Kateeva. Samsung aims to finalize the production line by the second half of 2019.
The QD-OLEDs will use a blue OLED emitter layer (or several layers, according to UBI Research) and quantum dot layers on top which will convert the light to red and green, thus enabling full color. The displays will use Oxide-TFT backplanes.
Royole starts to produce flexible OLEDs at its Quasi-6-Gen fab in Shenzhen
China-based Royole announced that it started volume production at its Quasi-6-Gen (5.5-Gen, most likely flexible OLED production fab in Shenzhen. In full capacity (45,000 monthly substrate) and at high yields Royole will be able to produce about 50-million flexible smartphone panels in its new fab.
Royole says that it will be able to produce "full-flexible" (which means foldable and rollable) displays as it is producing the world's thinnest panels at 0.01 mm with a bending radius of 1 mm.
Here come the bezel-less phones
Chinese phone makers Vivo and Oppo are the first companies to introduce smartphones with OLED displays that cover almost the entire front of the phone. The Vivo NEX S has a 6.49" 1080x2316 (388 PPI) AMOLED display, and a pop-out front camera (there is no room for a camera as almost all the front is covered with the display. The NEX S also features an under-the-display fingerprint sensor. The Vivo NEX A has a similar display, but with lower specifications and a fingerprint reader on the back. Both phones will ship by the end of the month.
The Oppo Find X is another high-end android smartphone, with a 6.4" 1080 x 2340 (401 PPI) AMOLED display that covers the entire front screen (92.25%, to be exact). The cameras (front and back) are placed on a motorized pop-up slider. The Find X will launch in August 2018 in Europe for €999.
JOLED announces official plans for a 5.5-Gen printed OLED fab in Ishikawa, Japan
Towards the end of 2017, JOLED started commercial production of its 21.6" 4K OLED panels. But this is very low volume production (at JOLED's pilot 4.5-Gen line) as the company said it is seeking to raise $900 million to support its plan to start mass producing OLEDs in 2019.
On June 27th, JOLED announced official plans for its first mass production printed OLED fab. JOLED will establish the production site in Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The capacity of the new fab will be 20,000 monthly 5.5-Gen (1300x1500 mm) substrates and the plan is to begin mass production in 2020. JOLED will produce 10- to 32-inch OLED displays for automotive displays, high-end monitors and more.
The display industry's top conference, SID DisplayWeek 2018 took place at the end of May in Los Angeles. As always, we found this trade show to be very interesting - click above to read our show summary with over 15 articles on new technologies and prototypes at the show.
Researchers from Spain and Germany demonstrated how ultra-stable glass can increase OLED efficiency by over 15%
Coherent provided a nice summary of the differences between LCD, OLEds and Micro-LED displays during SID Displayweek 2018
Samsung Electronics says that the automotive display market will grow at a 9% CAGR from 2018 to 2022 - but automotive OLEDs will grow at a much faster rate - from 100,000 units in 2018 to 3 million in 2022.
According to a report in Korea, Huawei has ordered 6.9-inch smartphone OLED displays from SDC, the largest ever made
HiSense already announced it will produce OLED TVs in 2018, and a report from Taiwan says that LGD started to ship OLED TV panels to HiSense.
LGD is still waiting for an approval from the Chinese authorities for its OLED TV fab in Guangzhou, and according to the Korea Times report, the Chinese government is expected to soon approve LG's plans
According to Korea's Golden Bridge Investment, Samsung's foldable phone could cost around $1,850 at launch.
ETNews says that Huawei is working with China-based BOE Display to develop a foldable phone. The first Huawei phone will have a 8" display and it will fold into a smartphone-sized device. ETNews says that BOE is actually developing four different foldable panels for three companies (including Huawei).
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The Vivo NEX S is a completely bezel-less phone with a 6.49-inch 1080x2316 AMOLED display, under the display fingerprint sensor and a pop-up front camera. The NEX A has the same display but with lower spec and a fingerprint reader on the back.
A high-end smartphone with a 6.4-inch 1080x2340 AMOLED display that covers the entire front screen (92.25%) - with cameras placed on a motorized pop-up slider.
A mid-range smartphone with a 6.28-inch 2220x1080 Super AMOLED display. The A9 Star lite variant has a smaller 6-inch 2220x1080 OLED.
An innovative dual-display smartwatch with a round AMOLED and a transparent LCD on top
A compact mirrorless camera with an XGA OLED EVF
A high-performance gaming phone with a 6-inch 2160x1080 90Hz AMOLED display
A mid-range smartphone with a 5.5-inch 720x1280 Super AMOLED display
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