Samsung may lower its A5 fab production capacity as competition still struggles with low yields and quality

Earlier this year, reports suggested that Samsung Display is considering a new flexible OLED plant, its largest OLED fab yet. The so called A5 fab was reportedly to have a monthly capacity of between 180,000 to 270,000 6-Gen substrates (it's current largest OLED fab, the A3, will have a monthly capacity of 135,000 substrates when the current expansion phase ends later this year).

A new report from Business Korea suggests that Samsung has confirmed the new fab, and is now debating whether the first phase in the A5 fab will have a capacity of 30,000 or 60,000 monthly substrates. Samsung will start constructing the fab in December 2017. The new fab building alone is estimated at $1.75 billion.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 20,2017

The Most Important Event on Emerging Technologies Takes place on November 15 & 16 in Santa Clara

The following is a sponsored post by IDTechEx

The IDTechEx Show! features over 250 exhibitors and 3,500 attendees. They will see the latest innovations in the fields of wearable technology, printed & flexible electronics, sensors, 3D printing, IoT, electric vehicles, energy storage and energy harvesting. Co-locating these topics at one event brings together emerging technology companies with their customers, leveraging the large overlap between these topics.

IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA conference image

The big brand speaker line-up, comprising of over 225 speakers from around the world, includes organizations such as Porsche, Panasonic, Intel, Samsung, ARM, JCDecaux, Fiat, Kodak, Osram, UTRC, HTC, Avery Denison, Texas Instruments and many more. They will present on their needs and latest technology breakthroughs. Session tracks include structural electronics, 3D printed electronics, energy storage innovations, IoT applications, wearable technology in healthcare, e-textiles, connected vehicles, flexible displays and much more.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 19,2017

LGD's rigid and flexible OLED lighting deployed at Baskin Robbins' new cafe in Seoul

Baskin Robbins opened a new cafe in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, under the new premium brand Baskin Robbins Brown (a new brand that is exclusive so far to South Korea).

OLED lighting at Baskin Robbins Brown, Seoul

The new cafe installed a large amount of LG Display's rigid and flexible OLED lighting panels to create a grid on the ceiling. The designer SPC Group aimed to create a "striking focal point for the store" while ensuring that the lighting was well distributed over the shop's display areas. LG says that one of the advantages of OLED lighting is the very low heat emission - which is helpful when you offer frozen ice cream...

Read the full story Posted: Oct 18,2017

Audi details the OLED lighting panels used in the 2018 A8

In July 2017 Audi unveiled its flagship luxuries sedan, the 2018 Audi A8, which uses OLED taillights. Hopefully the A8 is Audi's first car with OLED panels in all versions (the 2016 TT RS also has OLED lighting, but these were optional).

Audi A8 2018 OLED structure slide

Audi did not yet reveal the specification of these OLEDs, but now it has released the image above which shows the structure. The A8 uses four OLED modules on each side , each with what seems to be 6 different structured panels, a large red one and five yellow ones which form the turn indicators.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 14,2017

Facebook launches the affordable Oculus Go VR headset with a fast-switch LCD

Oculus (Facebook) announced its new affordable VR headset, the Oculus Go. This $199 device will launch early next year for $199 and Facebook hopes that this will be a step towards its goal to get one billion people to use its VR products.

Oculus Go launch event (LCD slide)

One of the ways that Oculus used to lower the cost of to Go headset is to switch from an OLED to an LCD. Oculus says that this is a "fast-switch LCD". It's too early to say how this display will compare to the current OLED used in the Oculus Rift. Looking at the slide above, it seems that the Go uses a single 2560x1440 LCD.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 14,2017

Samsung reported preliminary results for Q3 2017 - record profits, disappointing OLED profits

Samsung Electronics released its preliminary Q3 2017 financial results. Operation profits rose 15% from last quarter to reach 14.5 trillion Won (around $12.8 billion USD). Samsung's memory business enjoyed strong pricing, and while the company did not detail its smartphone sales breakdown, it said earlier that initial pre orders for the Galaxy Note 8 were the highest ever for any Note device.

Samsung Display had a disappointing quarter - with profit falling 53% over last quarter. LCD panel pricing was lower in the quarter, and OLED sales were lower than expected due to delayed shipments of its flexible OLEDs to Apple.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 14,2017

Is Samsung looking at Micro-LEDs for its next-gen premium TVs?

A report from Korea suggests that Samsung is accelerating its effort to develop a Micro-LED based TV. The company is currently focused entirely on QD-LEDs for its premium TVs but is looking for alternative technologies as it fails to increase its market share in this segment.

PlayNitride MicroLED array

Samsung is said to be looking at several alternatives - one of which is to acquire Taiwan-based PlayNitride - a deal that was first reported on OLED-Info in April 2017. Samsung aims to first use micro-LED technologies for its cinema LED screens, and then apply it to home-based TVs as well.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 11,2017

Is LGD working with Apple to develop foldable OLED technologies?

According to the Korea Herald, LG Display started to develop a foldable OLED display specifically for Apple. LG Display is collaborating with LG Innotek who will develop a flexible printed circuit board for the display.

It is estimated that LG display will not be able to produce such a foldable OLED until 2020. This may be a bit late for Apple as Samsung Electronics hopes to release its first foldable phone in 2018. But Apple is very keen on creating a second source for its OLEDs as it does not want to rely on Samsung Display alone.

Read the full story Posted: Oct 11,2017