December 2009

New Apple tablet rumors say that the device will actually be an e-reader

There are some new rumors that Apple's new device will actually be marketed primarily as an e-reader. It makes sense that Apple will want to enter the e-reader market now, when it's starting to take off.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of display will be chosen for such a device. Almost all e-readers use e-paper displays which are very efficient and great on the eye. But they are monochrome (although color ones are expected in 2010) and have slow refresh rate. If Apple wants this device to be used as an internet tablet too, they'll have to choose another display type. Obviously we're hoping for the first Apple OLED product...

Read the full story Posted: Dec 31,2009

Rumor: Motorola to launch two new Android phones with OLED displays


There are rumors that Motorola are going to announce 2 new Android phones at CES, one for AT&T and one for the Verizon, both with OLED displays



The AT&T phone will have a physical keyboard and will run the Google experiences software
environment, rather than the company’s proprietary MotoBlur software. The Verizon phone will not have a keyboard.



If this is true, these will be Motorola's first AMOLED phones.


Read the full story Posted: Dec 30,2009

The Samsung Moment is very popular

Update: Currently (2/1/2010) the Moment is the #1 best selling smartphone!

The Samsung Moment is a very popular phone - at least over at Amazon.com, where it's currently the #4 best selling smartphone. It's more popular than the Palm Pre (also on Spring, and costs the same, $79.99). The most popular smartphones, by the way, are two BlackBerrys (Bold 9700 and Curve 8900), and Motorola's Droid. The Moment has a 3.2" touch OLED, full QWERTY slider, 3.2mp camera, microSDHC slot, Wi-Fi and GPS. It runs Google's Android OS (on a 800Mhz processor).

Samsung Moment

Another OLED gadget that is popular is Nikon's S70. Despite getting rather bad reviews, it's number #13 and #14 in Amazon's best-selling point-and-shoot cameras. Different colored S70 are listed as different products, so totally it should rank even higher. The S70 has a 3.5" touch OLED. The S70 costs 260$.

 
Read the full story Posted: Dec 23,2009

CMO and TPO acquired by Innolux

Taiwan's Innolux has acquired two companies that had OLED programs: TPO and CMO. This is a 3-way-merger that is supposed to take place in May 2010, and the new company will be called Chimei Innolux

This is interesting news, and we do not know yet what will happen to the OLED programs of the two companies. The two companies had problems in their OLED subsidiaries (technical and financial) so this might be a good thing as they can now work together to solve the technical issues. Hopefully Innolux will not decide to simply give up on OLEDs...

CMEL (CMO's OLED subsidiary) has bee making OLED panels for quite some time. They offer the largest OLED panel available (7.6") which is being used by a few high-end products, such as Kodak's digital-photo frame. There were some rumors that CMEL are working at only 40% of their capacity, because of financial problems at CMO. These problems are now over with the merger, hopefully. 

TPO hasn't yet started to mass-produce OLEDs, and were facing some technical problems, that caused some delays. They are currently developing 3"-4" panels for mobile phones and cameras. They had plans to start producing the 3" panels this year, but we're not sure if they have actually begun. It was reported that TPO will supply Nokia with these AMOLEDs.

 
Read the full story Posted: Dec 23,2009

OLED shipments rise sharply in Q3 2009, revenue over $250 million


DisplaySerach has released their latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report. They say that OLED revenues have reached $252 million in Q3 2009, up 31% Q/Q. OLED shipments were 21.7 million (up 19% Q/Q). Demand was driven by high-end mobile phones.



DisplaySearch quarterly shipments and revenue Q3 2009 graphQuarterly shipments and revenue


Samsung Mobile Displays continues to be the market leader - in face they have a 73% market share (in revenues). RiTdisplay is second with a 12% share. 



PMOLED shipments did not grow from 2008 to 2009. In face, mobile-phones shipments decreased (there is a shift from clam-shell style phones with external PMOLEDs to smart-phones), but PMOLED for automotive applications is increasing, with Mercedes Benz and Lexus adopting PMOLEDs. PMOLED shipments in Q3 2009 has reached 427,000.



OLED-Info readers get a 5% discount on this report, follow this link


Read the full story Posted: Dec 23,2009