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An OLED uses organic semiconductors to create thin light emitting panels. OLEDs are used to create thin, beautiful, flexible and efficient display and lighting panels, and are the future technology of choice.
China-based OLED producer Visionox unveiled new foldable OLED prototypes at the China Information Technology Expo.
Visionox demonstrated inside and outside folding panels, 8.5-inch OLED that folds in two places and a larger 10.5-inch panel that folds in three places. Visionox says that its panels can be folded over 300,000 times.
Only yesterday we reported that early reviews of the Galaxy Fold are very positive and that Samsung says there's overwhelming demand for the new foldable device - and today we have much less positive news.
At least 4 early Galaxy Fold reviewers report that only after one day of use, the screens on their devices broke. The Verge's Dieter Bohn says that a bump appeared on the crease of the phone, which quickly broke the screen - even though he did not perform any stress tests or anything - just normal phone use.
Samsung Display started to accept pre-orders for the Galaxy Fold a few days ago (April 14th) - and the company says it is already sold out due to "overwhelming demand" and it is no longer taking pre-orders
This is great news, especially as many questioned whether customers will be willing to pay $2,000 for a foldable smartphone. Of course Samsung's foldable OLED production capacity is limited so this demand may not be actually very high.
Foxconn announced its plans to build a display fab in Wisconsin, USA, in 2017, and following delays the company plans to start operating the new fab by the end of 2020. The plant's designation changed several times - from LCD production (which never made much sense) to R&D and finally and currently to LCD module production.
Foxconn now says that it may also add OLED and Micro-LED production lines in the Wisconsin factory. It did not disclose any more details or timeline, this is certainly not a commitment yet. It is also not clear whether they mean to produce OLED and MicroLED display panels or modules.
OLED driver maker MagnaChip launched its latest 28 nm OLED Display Driver IC for smartphone displays. MagnaChip says that it is using the world's most advanced process for OLED drivers, which enables it to achieve a 20% reduction in form factor compared to its previous 40 nm process.
In addition to the size reduction, the new process also enabled MagnaChip to reduce the voltage from 1.1V to 1V, which reduces the power consumption by more than 20%, and it also reduces the EMI levels (again, by 20%) which improves the phone's call quality.
LG Display currently produces flexible OLEDs (branded as pOLEDs), for both wearable devices and smartphones, is the exclusive supplier of AMOLED displays for Apple's Watch smartwatch (although this could change soon) and it also supplies OLED displays for various smartphones, including the company's own flagship phones.
LG Display has been struggling, though - with low yields, poor display quality and securing orders. According to a new report from Business Korea, there is some skepticism regarding the viability of this business - including some inside LG Display's management itself.
A couple of weeks ago we reported that LG Display has decided to quit the OLED lighting market, as it found it difficult to ramp out production and lower its production costs. It was not clear what's the future of LGD's automotive OLED lighting business, but now we have an update from Korea.
According to ETNews, LG display has indeed found it difficult to win orders for its consumer OLED lighting products, and has decided to "reduce" its Luflex OLED lighting product line. LGD, however, is not quitting the OLED lighting market - but is stepping up its efforts to supply automotive OLED lighting solutions.
