Samsung OLED company spotlight

OLED is an emerging display technology that is fast becoming the mainstream display technology in many markets, as OLED enables display panels that offer the best image quality and free design as they can be made flexible and transparent. The Samsung OLED displays are considered to be the best in the industry and the Korean company is the clear lead in AMOLED production for mobile devices.

SDC 5.7'' FHD rollable OLED at SID 2016

Over the pay years Samsung invested billions of dollars in OLED research and production facilities as the company sees OLEDs fast replacing LCD displays in all mobile applications.

Samsung AMOLED displays

Samsung is currently producing over 300 million AMOLED displays in a year, used mostly in smartphones - such as Samsung's own Galaxy S7 (and S7 edge ) - but also in smartphones from Gionee, Meizu, Acer, HP, Vivo, Microsoft, Lenovo, ZTE, Hisense, Konka and others. Samsung also produces large mobile OLEDs for tablets, laptops and monitors.

In August 2013 Samsung launched the company's first OLED TV, the KN55S9C, which used a curved 55" OLED panel. The TV was priced at around $8999 in the US and Korea, but is no longer in production, and was never in real mass production. In 2022, Samsung returned to OLED TV production, and is now offering QD-OLED panels and its first such TV is the S95B.

Samsung S95B photo

Samsung flexible OLED displays

Following its initial flexible OLED production launch in 2013, and the huge success of its edge-type phones, Samsung is currently producing around 9 million flexible OLEDs each month to satisfy demand for the Galaxy S7 edge and its other flexible OLED products. Samsung has reportedly been chosen to supply 100 million flexible OLED panels to Apple's future iPhones.

Future Samsung OLED devices

Samsung is developing several next generation display technologies based on OLEDs. Samsung has been developing a foldable OLED device for a long time - which may dramatically change the mobile device market as it could enable smartphone to turn into tablets or phones that can be folded into smaller devices.

Samsung is also developing transparent OLEDs (see the company's 55" FHD transparent and mirror-type OLEDs here) for retail application, and also readies next generation displays for the automotive industry.

Several years ago Samsung released the following video, showing a concept transparent flexible AMOLED tablet device. It will be years before Samsung can commercialize such a display, but it's nice to see what the future holds:

Further reading

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The latest Samsung OLED news:

Samsung Display: the OLED microdisplay market is set to boom in 3-4 years

In 2022, Samsung Display confirmed it is developing OLED microdisplays, and the company has since stepped up its efforts to bring OLED microdisplay to the market. SDC's CEO said that the OLED microdisplay market will 'mature' in 3-4 years, meaning that it is likely that demand for such solutions will drastically increase, and the technology and production will be able to meet this demand.

Samsung Display OLED microdisplay roadmap slide (2022-08)

Samsung itself plans to ensure that it does not fall behind in the race to develop next-gen OLED microdisplays, and will invest and deploy manpower to become a leading supplier. Samsung's $218 million acquisition of US-based eMagin is part of the company's strategy.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 12,2024

Samsung Display formally starts building its A6 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED production line

Samsung Display announced that is is starting to build its 8.6-Gen AMOLED production line, that will target IT applications (laptops, tablets and monitors). The new A6 line, will be located at Samsung's old L8 LCD line in Asan, that will be converted to AMOLED production. The company held a ceremony today.

Samsung's plan is to install all the major production equipment by the end of 2024, and begin full-scale production in 2026. 

Read the full story Posted: Mar 10,2024

Samsung's upcoming S90D OLED TV lineup will feature displays utilizing both WOLED QD-OLED panels

According to reports from Korea, LG Display requested Samsung Electronics to use its WOLED panels on the same tier as SDC's QD-OLED panels, and Samsung will use both panel technologies in its S90D OLED TV series. Samsung will likely not disclose the actual panel technology to the consumer, and will likely decide on the panel technology per region.

Samsung S90D OLED TV photo

The Samsung S90D will offer 42-, 48-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch panels. SDC only makes 55, 65, and 77-inch QD-OLED panels, and so in these sizes both QD-OLEDs and WOLEDs will be used. For the 42-, 48- and 83- models Samsung will only use WOLEDs.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 07,2024

Samsung shows its latest flexible, foldable and rollable OLED prototypes

Last week Samsung Display showed its latest flexible OLED prototypes, with some impressive new displays. We'll start with the OLED Cling Band, a sort of wrist smartwach that wraps around your hand.

Samsung also showed a 17.3" foldable laptop display, a rollable and foldable device (Rollable Flex) that is 12.4" when fully opened, tri-folded displays and more. These are not new displays, but it is clear that Samsung is pushing forward with its flexible display technology to new designs.

Read the full story Posted: Mar 01,2024

Samsung announce a new Flex Magic Pixel technology for enhanced OLED privacy

Samsung Display demonstrated a new technology it brands as Flex Magic Pixel, that adjusts the viewing angle of the flexible OLED screen so that it is not visible to the person next to it. Samsung says that when this technology is combined with the proper AI technology, can be used to enhance the security of smart devices.

Samsung gives a use case example - when a smart device user runs a banking application in a public place, AI technology can automatically recognize the environment and initiate additional security features. The company's new Flex Magic Pixel enables the introduction of dynamic OLED privacy. Samsung Display is showing the new application at MWC 2024.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 26,2024

Samsung: we sold 1 million OLED TVs in 2023 and had a market share of 22.7% in the OLED TV market

Samsung announced that in 2023 it retained its market-leading position in the TV mraket, with a 30.1% market share (revenues). The company also disclosed that it sold 1.01 million OLED TVs in 2023 - mostly QD-OLED TVs, and some WOLED TVs as well.

Samsung quotes Omdia saying that it had a 22.7% market share in the OLED TV Market (by revenue), which is pretty impressive, as the company is relatively very new to this market.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 20,2024

Rumors say Huawei is readying a tri-folding OLED smartphone, and Samsung may respond with its first rollable phone

Interesting rumors from China suggest that Huawei is planning to release the industry's first smartphone that sports a tri-foldable OLED. When fully open, the device will sport a 10" display, which means it will double as a full tablet and a smartphone. Huawei's plan is to release it in the first half of 2024.

Samsung Display S-Foldalbe AMOLED smartphone prototype (SID DIsplayweek 2021)

Samsung tri-folding AMOLED prototype

The rumors continue to suggest that Samsung Electronics noticed Huawei's plan, and the Korean smartphone maker may decide to be the first on the market with a novel device, launching its own tri-folding phone - or perhaps even the first rollable phone

Read the full story Posted: Feb 15,2024

Samsung and LG to deepen their cooperation on OLED displays and other areas

Samsung and LG have a long history of rivalry, but recently the companies started a surprising collaboration in the OLED industry, when in 2023, Samsung launched its first OLED TV that used WOLED panels produced by LG Display, and recently the company signed a 5-year supply agreement with LGD.

According to recent reports from Korea, this is not an isolated case. The two Korean conglomerates have decided to increase their collaboration in order to increase their competitiveness against rivals, mostly from China. The two companies have formed a "TV alliance", of which the first step is by Samsung to adopt LGD's WOLED panels. LG Display, in return have agreed to use Samsung Display's AMOLED panels in its LG Gram laptop range. This was reported already last year, but we did not know it was part of Samsung's and LG's new strategy of cooperation.

Read the full story Posted: Feb 15,2024

Samsung researchers collaborate with the UK's NPL to better understand blue OLED degradation mechanisms

Researchers from the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL), together with the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), released a new study to better understand the degradation of blue OLED devices. 

Close-up of the OrbiSIMS instrument’s vacuum chamber showing the nozzles of the ion beams and electrode that extract ionised molecules for analysis (Picture credit: NPL)

The OLED degradation mechanisms that limit the lifetime of blue OLED emitters, whether physical, chemical or something else, are still not yet fully understood. Understanding the degradation mechanism of blue OLEDs is essential to improve their performance and stability. The NPL / SAIT team used OrbiSIMS, an innovative mass spectrometry imaging technique invented at NPL in 2017, to study OLED degradation. 

Read the full story Posted: Feb 15,2024

Omdia sees a rebound in the display production equipment market

Market research firm Omdia says that display production equipment sales will rebound in 2024 and reach $7.7 billion (154% over 2023), and will grow slowly in the near future, mainly driven by 8.6-Gen OLED production lines (used to make IT displays).

Omdia says that the new 8.6-Gen OLED fab require novel technologies, which results in high equipment costs. In 2024, 32% of all spending ($2.4 billion) will be for Samsung's A6 line, a large investment for a 15,000 monthly subtrates fab. BOE's investment in its upcoming B16 flexible 8.6-Gen line will be even higher - by 18% due to the backplane choice (LTPO over Samsung's oxide-TFT A6).

Read the full story Posted: Feb 06,2024