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OLED Market updates

DSCC estimates that the AMOLED market will grow 19% in 2019 to reach $31 billion, up from $26.5 billion in 2018. OLED revenues will continue to grow and reach $48.8 billion in 2022 (a CAGR of 16%). Looking at OLED unit shipments and area production, 2019 will see a 22% growth in unit shipments to 610 million panels .

IHS, meanwhile, says that OLED panels grabbed 61% of the total smartphone display market in Q3 2018, by revenues. OLED sales reached $6.6 billion in the quarter, out of a $10.7 billion market./

According to DSCC, in 2022 OLED unit shipments will cross the 1 billion market for the first time. OLED TVs will enjoy a fast growth from 1.7 million panels in 2017 to 13.1 million panels in 2022. For more market forecasts from DSCC, click here.

DSCC also says that flexible OLED fab utilization rates continued to increase in Q4 2018, while rigid OLED utilization rate are falling. Q3 2018 was a record quarter for display equipment spending, as sales reached $7.8 billion billion in the quarter - up 13% from Q3 2017. But despite the record quarter, total display spending will fall 9% in 2018 (to $21.6 billion).

LG OLED TV updates

Reports from Korea say LG Display started to install the production equipment in the Guangzhou fab. LG Display's new fab will have a capacity of 90,000 monthly 8.5-Gen substrates (2200x2500 mm), using two production lines. The equipment in the first line was already installed, and LG expects mass production to begin in the second half of 2019. For more information on LG's Guangzhou OLED fab status, click here.

While the Guangzhou fab is progressing nicely, other reports suggest that LGD has decided to postpone the production of the company's largest OLED TV fab, the future P10 line that will be located in Paju, Korea. LGD is focused on its Chinese fab, and the report says that the shift to OLED technologies at the P10 line is challenging - especially as LGD intends to produce OLEDs on 10.5-Gen substrates for the first time.

We already know that LG Electronics aims to bring its 65" rollable OLED TV prototype to CES 2019 again - but Bloomberg now reports that LG aims to actually release this TV as a commercial product in 2019, citing "a person familiar with the matter".

BOE OLED updates

According to reports from China, BOE started to construct its 3rd 6-Gen flexible AMOLED production line in Chongqing's Liangjiang district (the B12 line). The investment in the new fab will total 46.5 billion Yuan, or about $7.3 billion USD. The B12 line will have a capacity of 48,000 monthly substrates and will join BOE's first flexible 6-Gen OLED fab in Chengdu (the B7) and its second line in Mianyang.

BOE is still struggling with low yields at its B7 line, but it is moving aggressively forward with its OLED expansion. BOE's original plan was to start mass production in the B12 line in 2020. According to CLSA, BOE will start delay the B12 mass production to 2021.

Towards the end of December 2018 BOE announced plans for another large investment in a new flexible OLED fab, this one in Fuzhou, Fujian. BOE's fourth fflexible OLED fab will be similar to the company's other fabs - a 6-Gen (1500×1850 mm) line with a capacity of 48,000 substrates. The new line will bring BOE's total flexible OLED capacity to 192,000 monthly substrates. This is the first time we hear of this new fab. BOE's announcement says it already signed the framework agreement for this investment with Fuzhou's municipal government and local investment groups - but this still needs approval of BOE's board of director and the document only serves as a basis for future negotiations of all parties involved. BOE does not detail exact dates for this project, but it says it will take 3 years to achieve mass production, from the moment the project is initiated.

In October 2017 BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its first flexible OLED line, the Chengdu B7 6-Gen fab. In addition to this fab in Chengdu, in October 2016 BOE announced another 6-Gen OLED fab, in Mianyang, with a similar capacity, which is now under construction (production is expected to begin in 2019).

The best of 2018 - top OLED stories

2018 is soon over - and this has been a somewhat challenging year for the OLED industry. The beginning of the year saw a slump in OLED shipments following disappointing iPhone X shipments, slower adoption in Chinese smartphone brands and delays in OLED capacity increases by OLED makers. Towards the end of the 2018, however, the industry started to pick up but OLED adoption is still expected to be slower than what we hoped for in 2017.

Here are the top 10 stories posted on OLED-Info in 2018, ranked by popularity (i.e. how many people read the story):

1. Google and LGD developed a 1443 PPI 4.3" 120Hz VR AMOLED display (Mar 12)
2. Pulse-width modulation (PWM) in OLED displays (Jan 14)
3. Apple's iPhone wins burn-in test over Samsung's flagship OLED phones (Jan 5)
4. Samsung Display demonstrates its latest OLED displays at SID 2018 (May 30)
5. OLED Ink-jet printing market situation, early 2018 (Jan 17)
6. LG announces its 2018 OLED TV lineup, no big surprises there (Jan 3)
7. Samsung Display unveils new VR AMOLED displays at SID 2018 (May 29)
8. Samsung says it will release a consumer Micro-LED TV in 2019 (Jul 22)
9. IHS: Apple is developing a new LTPO backplane, may introduce it in future iPhones (Aug 31)
10. LG Display developed the world's first 88" 8K OLED display (Jan 1)

Even though 2018 was a bit challenging, it is still quite clear that OLED technology is progressing and becoming the technology of choice for high-end displays. We expect this trend to continue in 2019, with more flexible and rigid OLED smartphones, larger OLED TV shipments (and hopefully Samsung finally joining the OLED TV camp) and perhaps also some OLED monitors and laptops.

Here's for a bright and exciting 2019! Happy new year!

The upcoming C238 E-Class Coupe, spotted in Stuttgart, uses a new OLED taillight design

The Korean panel maker expects that its production capacity expansion will allow it to ship around 4 million panels in 2019, over one million will go to Panasonic and Sony.

NTHU announced that following a collaboration with China's OLED lighting maker First-o-lite it is now ready to commercialize its technology and NTHU demonstrated the first device to use these new panels

According to reports from Korea, Samsung aims to launch its first 4K OLED Laptop at CES 2019 (January 8).

Japan's SEL demonstrated two new OLED prototypes - a new 8.6-inch foldable OLED display in addition to the world's smallest 8K display.

A large smartphone with a 6.39-inch 1080x2340 Super AMOLED display and a secondary 5.49-inch 1080x1290 Super AMOLED display on the back

Canon's latest full-frame mirrorless camera features a 3.69m-dot OLED EVF