OLED-Info: the OLED experts

A report from Korea suggests that Samsung Display has decided to resume its QD Nanorod Diode (QNED) technology development, that it has paused a few years ago, following a technology breakthrough related to the QD nanorod arrangement and placement technology.

Samsung's QNED technology is based on blue emitting nanorods (somewhat similar to microLEDs), coated with QDs for color conversion. Samsung's nanorod and QD deposition are both based on inkjet printing. The company originally hoped to achieve pilot production in 2021, but it faced several technical challenges, and eventually decided to abandon R&D - until this resumed last year.

The global memory chip industry is facing a very large demand from AI datacenters, causing a dramatic increase in memory prices - and a global supply problems. The OLED industry is effected - mainly as and smartphone makers are seen to opt for lower-cost LCDs over OLEDs in some devices to offset the cost. 

In fact, the demand for smartphones is expected to drop in general - is now estimated that in 2026, less than 600 million smartphones will ship by Chinese brands - down from 700 million in 2025, and on top of that, demand for OLEDs may be lower.-

According to Omdia, polarizer-free OLED display shipments will more than double in 2026, to reach 72 million units (up from 31 million in 2025) - and continue to grow to reach almost 250 million units in 2032 (a CAGR of 22.7%).

Omdia says that the removal of the polarizer layer, and replacing it with color filters on the encapsulation layer (Color Filter-on-Encapsulation, or COE), enables a meaningful increase in light emission, thinner structure, greater design flexibility, and improved color reproduction and privacy features. Some companies are using simpler technologies to replace the polarizer layer, like a simplified polarizer layer, that do not offer the high image quality of standard OLEDs or the increased efficiency of COE OLEDs, but are lower in cost. 

BYD launched its 2026 Yangwang U8 off-roader, an EV that adopts BYD's latest Blade Battery and Flash Charging technologies. 

The Yangwang U8 has several large displays, including a 12.8" curved central OLED display.

South Korea's Semes has finished the development of a 8-Gen (2500x2200 mm) QD inkjet printing system, and has begun to mass produced systems, aiming to ship these to Samsung Display.

The 8.5-Gen Vincent QD inkjet printing system utilizes over 100 print heads, and achieves a resolution of over 220 PPI. Semes says that it has improved the PPI by 30% compare to its previous systems.

Apple recently launched its iPhone 17e 'budget' smartphone, with a 6.1" 1200 nits (peak) 1170x2532 LTPS AMOLED display. According to a report from Korea, Apple ordered around 20 million OLED displays for the 17e, and Samsung Display will supply most of these panels.

In fact, The Elec estimates that Samsung will ship around 11 million panels, BOE 7.5 million, and LGD around 3.5 million, similar to the situation last year with the iPhone 16e.