LG Electronics announced that it is now shipping the world's first rollable OLED TV, the 65" 65RX OLED TV. The price is set at KRW 100 million (USD 87,000) - that's actually cheaper than expected.

The 65RX rollable TV is currently available in Korea only. The rollable OLED TV was first unveiled in early 2019, but LG did not manage to produce it until now as it faced several technology challenges, including low durability.

UBI Research estimates that OLED shipments in the first half of 2020 were 231 million units ($13.2 billion), pretty much the same as in the first half of 2019 (230 million, $13.8 billion). UBI estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic decreased demand for OLED displays.

Looking at market segmentation, OLED shipments for smartphones decreased from 200.4 million units to 189.8 million units. Foldable phones increased from 70,000 units to 1.7 million units, and smartwatch display shipments increased sharply from 22 million units in the first half of 2019 to 33.5 million in the first half of 2020.

According to reports from China, TCL says its CSOT OLED inkjet printing project is going well, and the company expects to start mass production at its 8.5-Gen Guangzhou T8 (owned by Huaxing Optoelectronics) production line in 2024.

Earlier this year the Guanghzhou development commission issued a report that says CSOT's investment in this R&D and production project will amount to 46 billion yuan ($6.8 billion USD), and the construction of the actual production line will be in 2021-2023.

Last month we reported that Konica Minolta started to offer its flexible OLED lighting panels to global customers. One of the panels that KM is producing is a small red panel that can be integrated with an NFC antenna. This is an interesting concept, that is demonstrated in the video below.

The low power consumption of the OLED panel enables it to be powered by the NFC receiver and operate without a battery. It will be interesting to see what kind of applications will be developed using this technology.

MicroLED technology is regarded by many as a highly promising display technology, that could rival OLED in many applications in the future. We have been following microLEDs since 2018 via MicroLED-Info and are indeed excited by the progress and potential of this display technology.

Peak EQE of RGB micro-LED as a function of LED chip size (source: Crystals)

One of the most talked-about advantages of microLED displays compared to OLEDs is the power efficiency. MicroLEDs are based on in-organic LEDs, which are inherently much more efficient than organic LEDs.

Apple announced its newest iPhone smartphones, and all of this year's models have OLED displays. All of Apple's new phones also include 5G connectivity and the company's latest A14 bionic 5nm chipset. Interestingly, all these OLED displays offer a refresh rate of 60Hz, it seems as if we'll have to wait for at least one more year to get 90Hz or 120Hz displays from Apple.

So first up we have the iPhone 12 Pro, which features a 6.1-inch 1170x2532 800-nits XDR AMOLED display. The larger iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 1284x2778 AMOLED. Next we have the iPhone 12 - with its 6.1-inch 1170x2532 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display. Apple also introduced a smaller model, called the iPhone 12 mini which sports a 5.4-inch 1080x2340 HDR10 XDR AMOLED display.

TADF emitter developer Kyulux announced that has signed a joint-development agreement with Nippon Soda to develop new intermediates compounds for TADF emitters. The goal of this collaboration is to improve the performance and quality of Kyulux's TADF materials, and also dramatically improve the production efficiency of new compounds.

This agreement also markets Nippon Soda first entry into the OLED market. The company, founded in 1920, is highly environmentally conscious and has accumulated advanced organic material development capabilities and vast synthesis know-how, which will assist it in this new OLED project.

UK-based PolyPhotonix, has been researching OLED technologies for many years, and its first commercial product will be the Noctura OLED sleep mask which helps patients with Diabetic Retinopathy.

The company announced today that it has signed a deal with Pioneer for the supply of OLED panels for the sleep masks.

According to Omdia, LG Display have produced over 10 million OLED TVs since 2013. Omdia says that in Q4 2020 1.2 million OLED TVs will ship globally - up 30% from Q4 2019.

Omdia sees 3.3 million OLED TVs shipped in 2020. This is a 10% increase from 2019, but remember that in 2019 Omdia expected 5.5 million units to ship in 2020 - this estimate was later decreased several times. In 2024, Omdia expects over 9 million OLED TVs to ship.

Today we published new versions of our market reports - that cover the flexible, VR/AR, microdisplays, automotive and graphene OLED markets. OLED-Info provides comprehensive niche OLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the OLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to October 2020.

The Flexible and Foldable OLED Market Report:

• Why flexible displays and lighting panels are so exciting
• What kind of flexible displays are currently on the market
• All about the foldable OLED market and industry
• What the future holds for flexible OLEDs
• How to acquire flexible OLEDs for your products

The report package provides a good introduction to the flexible and foldable OLED market - present and future. It details both flexible displays and lighting technologies. Read more here!