July 2007

Chi Mei EL (CMEL), a subsidiary of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), has delivered samples of 2.4-inch AMOLED panels to clients, and volume shipments may start in September of October, according to company president Zhe-yang Chen.

Chen said since starting volume production of AMOLED panels in May, CMEL has been actively sampling the products with clients. As validation by major international clients will take longer, CMEL expects shipments to see a significant increase in the fourth quarter, Chen added.

Read more here (Digitimes)

Sumitomo Chemical announced that it is going to acquire Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) for $12 per share in cash - for a total of around $285 million. This represents a 107% premium over CDT's 90-day average closing share price.

Sumitomo says that it is considering its display materials business as one of its strategically important business area and an area of focus for the business resources. They expect the OLED market to see considerable market growth in the future. Sumitomo is already collaborating with CDT.

LG Philips has applied for a patent for a flexible displays, which uses oil and water to 'make the pixels', connecting them to plastic electrodes. The oil floats on the water and covers a colored surface beneath it. You apply an electric charge to make the oil reveal the surface and thus change the color of the pixel. It is supposed to be a simple and cheap process. 

Read more here (Engadget)

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors will be exiting the production of passive matrix displays based on organic LEDs (OLEDs) at the end of the year. The company will be concentrating its OLED activities on developing market-ready OLED lighting solutions. As a result, the display manufacturing line in Penang, Malaysia, will cease production at the end of the year. The 270 employees there will be transferred to other activities within OSRAM Opto Semiconductors including the new LED chip production facility in Penang. Jobs are being sought in other parts of the company for the OLED product team in the USA. No employees in Germany are affected. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors will honor the existing obligations toward its customers.

Since the end of 2003, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has been manufacturing and marketing passive matrix displays based on OLEDs under the brand name of PictivaTM. Worldwide demand for the displays, which are used predominantly in communication systems, industrial applications and mobile consumer electronics, has lagged far behind the company`s expectations. Against this background, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has decided to withdraw from the display business and concentrate exclusively on the core business of lighting.

In the past year, OLED makers, materials firms and others have become increasingly interested in new business opportunities that will be available as the result of OLED, phosphorescent and (to a lesser extent) carbon nanotube lighting. Interest in this new form of illumination is being driven by a number of factors ranging from its likely low power consumption to the fact that - unlike high-end displays - it can be built without any need for complex active matrix backplanes.

This is a new report that analyzes and quantifies the opportunities available in OLED and printed lighting. The report examines the factors driving the market as well as key trends in materials and manufacturing. The report analyzes the strategies of the main firms and research groups involved in this space as well as the likely commercial impact of various government funded projects in the U.S., Europe and Japan. In addition to discussing the devices themselves, this report also provides a forecast broken out by technology platform and application area in volume and value terms.

DisplaySearch of the United States forecast shipments of organic EL TV panels would reach around 3 million units in 2011 at the 13th DisplaySearch Japan Forum July 24, 2007.

The company assumed entry to the market from a number of manufacturers including Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. of Korea in 2008 and Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co. Ltd. (TMD) in 2009, following Sony Corp. launching an organic EL TV onto the market in late 2007.

Full-scale volume production of organic EL TVs is "still at a stage where we should solve a lot of challenges," according to DisplaySearch's analysis. The company projected a cost of Sony's 11-inch organic EL panel will be around $700 (USD). That is equivalent to the cost of a 40-inch class LCD panel, while the costs of current 10-inch class LCD panels are about $100 per panel.

Read more here (TechOn)

Leadis Technology today announced sample availability of the LDS519, a mono OLED driver IC with integrated controller supporting 4 gray 96x64 and 48-Icons. Integrating 13K bits of full frame memory, the LDS519 is a highly integrated SoC designed to provide vivid and accurate images for MP3 player and mobile phone sub-display applications.

The device inherits all the features of the LDS511, one of the most successful OLED drivers, but offers low cost to give customers the flexibility to prolong it useful lifetime on a wide variety of mobile applications. The interface of LDS519 supports the 80/68 series and Serial MPU interface. The 48 Icons with internal DC-DC helps low power consumption in waiting mode of mobile phone set. And LDS519 can adjust frame frequency for display quality and reference current for brightness of display. LDS519 has an input data order selection function to enhance the flexibility of the module design.

LG Electronics says they will start making AMOLED panels, and will introduce mobile phones with the displays. They will also phase-out PMOLED production. They are also inn close talks with LG.Philips LCD for the AM OLED business direction such as production of AM OLED panels using LG.Philips LCD's fourth-generation low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) LCD glass. substrates.

Read more here (DisplayBank)

Fossil will release a new watch with an OLED display soon.

This is a normal watch - no MP3 or phone or things like that. 

Read more here (Technabob) 

The market for printed and organic lighting will exceed $2.9 billion ($US) by 2012, according to a new report from NanoMarkets. The report claims that the higher energy efficiencies and ability to create novel lighting products provided by OLED and carbon nanotubes in particular will push the entire printed and organic lighting market up to $5.9 billion by 2014.

NanoMarkets says that most of the new business will come from the backlighting, general illumination and architectural/specialty industrial lighting applications with significant opportunities also in vehicular lighting, signage and a variety of niche markets.