LGD: OLED TV shipments more than double in the first half of 2018

LG Display announced that it sold over 1.3 million OLED TV panels in the first half of 2018 - more than double the number of OLED TV panels sold in the first half of 2017 (0.6 million). LG Display says it aims to improve it production efficiency and sell more than 1.6 million OLED TV panels in the second half of 2018.

LG Display started producing OLED TVs in 2013 - when it sold 200,000 units. In 2017 it sold 1.7 million panels. LGD aims to finally turn its OLED TV business into profitability in 2018.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 17,2018

Samsung may resume OLED production at its A4 line in October following new smartphone OLED orders

Due to lower demand for flexible (due to several reasons, see here) in late 2017 and early 2018, Samsung's utilization rates at its flexible OLEDs fab were quite low, and its A4 production line was pretty much unused for the time.

But demand for mobile OLED displays is now on the rise, and a report from Korea now suggests that SDC aims to resume flexible OLED production in its A4 line in October 2018 - as the company secured new ordered for smartphone OLEDs from Chinese phone makers.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 16,2018

DSCC: OLED area shipments on the rise, driven by OLED TVs

DSCC says that OLED area shipments grew 30% in the first half of 2018, mostly driven by strong growth in OLED TV shipments (a 98% increase from last year in term of area shipments). Smartphone OLED shipments stagnated in the first half, but growth will resume in the second half of the year - area shipments will grow 47% compared to H2 2017.

OLED shipment area by application (2016-2018, DSCC)

DSCC estimates that OLED TV panel revenues in the first half of 2018 grew 80% compared to the first half of 2017. Modern price declines were offset by a rise in unit shipments.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 15,2018

DisplayMate: Samsung yet again improved its AMOLED displays, the Note 9 has the best mobile display ever

DisplayMate posted a review of Samsung's latest OLED display - the 6.4" 1440x2960 (516 PPI) flexible Super AMOLED used in the Galaxy Note 9. As we've seen many times before, Samsung managed to significantly improve its OLED quality - and DisplayMate says that this is the best mobile display ever tested.

In the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung concentrated on significantly raising the on-screen absolute picture quality and absolute color accuracy by implementing precision factory display calibration. This could have been a response to the excellent calibration done by Apple in the iPhone X.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 13,2018

IHS sees flexible AMOLEDs taking over rigid ones in 2020

According to IHS, flexible AMOLED shipments reached 157.6 million units in 2018 - about 38.9% of the total AMOLED market (rigid + flexible). Flexible OLEDs will grow at a much faster rate than rigid OLEDs, and shipments will exceed those of rigid OLEDs by 2020 (335.7 million units). In 2022 over 400 million flexible AMOLED panels will be produced, compared to around 340 million rigid AMOLEDs.

Flexible AMOLED shipment forecast (2015-2022, IHS)

IHS sees demand for flexible OLEDs by smartphone brands that want to diffrentite their products using curved displays and full-screen ones. Foldable displays are also expected to be a key technology for mobile devices in the foreseeable future.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 13,2018

ETNews: BOE and OLiGHTEK to start trial OLED microdisplay production in early 2019

In March 2017 OLED maker BOE Technology and OLED Microdisplay maker OLiGHTEK announced a new $170 million joint-venture to produce OLED microdisplays for the consumer VR and AR markets.

Today we have a report from Korean ET News site that BOE is getting ready to start trial production in the new fab in early 2019. Kunming BOE Display Technology, the JV that was established by BOE and OLiGHTEK has began to order equipment for its new fab (including CVD, ALD, AOI and sputters)

Read the full story Posted: Aug 12,2018

Universal Display reports its Q2 2018 financial results

Universal Display reported its financial results for Q2 2018 - with revenues of $56.1 million and a net profit of $10.8 million (without the impact of UDC's new accounting system, the revenues would have been $73.6 million and the net income $25.1 million).

UDC says that the first quarter was the bottom for material shipments for 2018, in Q2 materials sales improved and the company believes that the second half of 2018 will see more growth as it anticipates new OLED smartphones from leading brands - including Apple, Google, Samsung and more. UDC estimates that for 2019, the install base of OLED capacity by meters will increase by around 50% compared to 2017.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 11,2018

eMagin reports its Q2 2018 financial results

OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reported its financial results for Q2 2018 - revenues increased 34% over Q2 2017 to reach $7.1 million, and net loss was $1 million (excluding one-time charges). At the end of the quarter, the company had $8.7 million in cash and equivalents. eMagin's backlog at the end of June was $10.3 million (an increase of $0.5 million from the end of 2017).

eMagin XGA096 OLED-XL photo

eMagin says it sold OLED microdisplays to 75 customers (including 3 new ones) during the quarter - for a wide range of applications including night vision, thermal weapon sights and see-through HMD systems for mounted and dismounted missions. The company improved its production yields (with some support from the US government for OLED production and yield improvement project) and its product quality.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 10,2018

Solomon Systech expects strong growth for its AMOLED driver business, announced a new flexible OLED touch controller IC

Hong-Kong display driver develop Solomon Systech says that it expects strong growth for its advanced AMOLED touch controller ICs. The company says it has received several design-wins and design-in projects with OLED makers in Taiwan, Japan and China for top global smartphone brands.

Solomon Systech flexible/foldable touch IC image

Solomon also announced its next-generation flexible/foldable AMOLED touch controller IC. The company says that the new driver will deliver a step change in power and noise immunity which will enable device makers to innovate with ultra-thin displays and new foldable design concepts. The first sample of the new IC is expected to be available by the end of 2018.

Read the full story Posted: Aug 09,2018