OLED-Info: the OLED experts

Universal Display Corporation published an updated virtual tour of some of its state-of-the-art OLED materials and technology labs in Ewing NJ. The video gives a nice introduction to UDC and its OLED technologies and materials:

Digitimes reports that Apple will only be able to ship a very limited number of OLED iPhones following the expected launch in September, as SDC's capacity will be limited to about 3-4 million flexible OLED displays.

Apple goal is to ship 50-60 million OLED iPhones in 2017, and have signed a supply agreement with SDC to supply these displays (some estimate that SDC promised to ship 80 million OLEDs in 2017 alone). But SDC still struggles with low yields for these specific OLED displays and will not be able to produce so many displays in time.

Japan-based Canon Tokki is considered the world's leader in vacuum evaporation equipment, and the company has a large backlog - reportedly it had to decline orders from several OLED makers as all of its capacity was taken up mostly by Samsung Display and BOE.

The Korea Herald reports that LG Display has now managed to order two 6-Gen deposition systems from Canon Tokki. The price of each system is around $115 million, and it can support up to 15,000 monthly substrates. The first machine will be delivered in December 2017 and the second in February 2018.

Yeolight Technology (which was spun-off Visionox in May 2015) developed a 0.1 mm flexible OLED panel. This is a red OLED panel that is specifically designed for automotive applications.

The light emitting area is 13 cm² and the whole panel weighs just 1 gram. Yeolight says that the panel uniformity is over 90%. The panel uses a "special organic polymer" and Yeolight developed and used new materials, package structure and processes in order to improve the lifetime and durability of its new panel.

Kaneka introduced a new OLED lighting fixture, the Kumiko - designed by lighting designer Michiru Tanaka. This is a high-tech decorative update to a traditional Japanese patterned woodwork.

The Kumiko is a fully-customizable modular tile system that can be vertically-mounted on a surface or built into complex architectural designs. The Kumiko panels offer diffused light that looks like staned-glass windows. The panels have a mirror surface when not in use. Kaneka did not disclose the technical specification of these Kumiko panels.

Last month BOE demonstrated several exciting new display technologies at the SID DisplayWeek, and now we have this very nice (and long) video that shows most of BOE's new displays.

We start with a tablet-phone device A 7.56" foldable touch-enabled OLED that features an QXGA (2048x1536) resolution, a bending radius of 5 mm and a contrast rate of over 70,000:1.

In October 2016 Sharp announced that it will invest $570 million and build OLED pilot lines at its plants in Osaka and in the Mie Prefecture. The pilot lines will begin OLED production in the summer of 2018.

It was always assumed that Sharp will focus on small and medium sized OLED panels with hopes to join Samsung and become an OLED supplier for Apple's iPhones and iPads. Today, however, Sharp announced that in the Osaka plant it will also develop large-area OLED TV panels.