OLED history: A ‘guided tour’ of OLED highlights from invention to application | OLED-Info

Article last updated on: Jan 05, 2020

2019

January - SDC announces new 15.6" UHD AMOLED displays for laptops
January - LGD launches the world's first rollable OLED TV
January - LGD launches a 88" 8K OLED TV
February - LGD launches the first phone with a CSO OLED
February - Samsung and Huawei launch foldable OLED smartphones
March - ASUS starts shipping the its 21.6" 4K OLED monitor that uses JOLED printed panels
April - RiTdisplay and Lumtec both start to produce OLED lighting panels
April - Samsung delays the launch of the Galaxy Fold as screens break for early reviewers
April - LG Display pulls out of the commercial OLED lighting market
April - The first OLED laptops with the new 15.6" 4K SDC displays start shipping
April - LG Chem acquires Dupont's soluble OLED IP for $175 million
May - TCL starts flexible OLED pilot production at its Wuhan CSoT fab
May - Lenovo demonstrates a foldable 13.3" Windows laptop
May - Cynora raises $25 million in its Series C funding round
June - Pioneer withdraws from the OLED lighting market
June - Oppo and Xiaomi show smartphone prototypes with under-the-OLED cameras
July - LGD to invest a further $2.5 billion in its P10 OLED TV fab
August - Jilin OE Materials is building a $85 million OLED Material R&D center in China
August - Tianma to establish a 6-Gen flexible OLED fab in Xiamen, in a $6.8 billion investment
August - AUO demonstrates its first ink-jet printed OLED, a 17.3" 120Hz 4K display
August - LG announces its 8.5-Gen OLED TV fab in Guangzhou is now in production
September - BOE starts shipping its OLED microdisplays
September - Samsung re-launches the foldable OLED Galaxy Fold
October - Samsung formally announces its $10.8 billion QD-OLED TV investment
October - Japan Display starts to produce OLED displays
October - Wisechip launches the world's first Hyperfluoresence OLED display
November - JOLED starts sampling printed OLED panels at its 5.5-Gen Nomi site
November - Samsung starts constructing its A5 flexible OLED fab
November - Sharp has developed a 30" 4K rollable OLED panel
December - BOE plans a new OLED microdisplay fab in a $470 million investment
December - Cadillac's 2021 Escalade to sport a 38-inch curved OLED display
December - Idemitsu and Toray's TADF material is the world's most efficient red emitter

2018

2017

2016

January - Coherent sees massive ELA orders for OLED makers in Korea, Japan and China
January - LG to convert an LCD fab to OLED TV production in a $380 million investment
January - JDI announces it will start OLED mass production in 2018
January - OLED monitors and laptops finally arrive
February - BOE's 6-Gen flexible AMOLED fab confirmed, will begin mass production in 2017
February - SDC starts supplying flexible OLEDs to Chinese mobile phone makers
March - IHS says a 5" FHD AMOLED costs less than an equivalent LCD
March - OLED-Info launches the OLED Marketplace, an online OLED catalog
March - LGD starts building a 5-Gen OLED lighting fab
March - Mercedes to use LGD's 12.3" flexible OLED panels in future cars
March - SDC invests $325 million to expand flexible OLED production
March - New startup raises $13 million to commercialize Kyushu's TADF emitters
April - LGD to invest a further $275 million in flexible OLED production expansion
April - Audi unveils the 2016 TT RS, the world's first car with OLED taillights
April - JOLED developed 12.2" and 19.3" OLED prototypes using printing technology
May - Kateeva raises $88 million from BOE, TCL and others
June - UDC acquires BASF's OLED IP for $96 million
June - SDC demonstrated a 806 PPI OLED prototype for VR applications
June - SDC demonstrates transparent and mirror automotive OLEDs
July - LGD commits to an additional 6-Gen flexible OLED line, the E6 line
August - TCL announces a $6.96 billion LCD/AMOLED IGZO Gen-11 fab in Shenzhen
August - SDC scraps plans to produce 55" transparent OLEDs
August - SDC cannot supply enough AMOLEDs to meet customer demand
September - Solvay quits the OLED market, sells its IP to Nissan Chemical Industries
September - Kateeva take a commanding lead in OLED TFE
September - Merck's €30 Million OLED materials production plant is now online
October - BOE announces a $6.87 billion Gen-6 AMOLED fab in Sichuan
October - Apple launches new MacBook Pro laptops with an OLED Touch Bar
October - Sharp to setup two OLED pilot production lines in a $570 million investment
November - Truly starts mass producing AMOLED displays
November - Skyworth announces a new OLED TV with panels supplied by BOE
December - Kopin to enter the OLED microdisplay market as a fabless producer
December - EverDisplay officially launches its 6-Gen flexible AMOLED fab in Shanghai

2015

2014

2013

January - LG's 55" OLED TV, the 55EM9700 is finally on sale in Korea (for $10,000)
January - Sony unveils a 56" 4K2K Oxide-TFT OLED TV prototype
January - Samsung unveils an updated 55" Full-HD OLED model, the F9500
January - Samsung shows off a 55" curved OLED TV prototype
Janaury - Panasonic shows a 56" 4K printed OLED TV prototype
January - Samsung officially launches their YOUM flexible OLED displays
January - LG unveils the EA9800 - a 55" curved OLED TV
January - Samsung shows a 4.99" FHD AMOLED panel prototype (440 PPI)
January - Samsung produced over 300 million AMOLED panels since 2007
February - Samsung and LG agree to solve their OLED IP disputes
February - LG Display to build a $650 million Gen-8 OLED TV fab by H1 2014
February - LG starts shipping the 55" 55EM9700 OLED TV in Korea
February - LG Chem to make flexible and 80 lm/W OLED lighting panels in July 2013
February - Philips inaugurates their new €40 million OLED lighting production line in Aachen
March - Samsung announces the Galaxy S4 with a 4.99" Full-HD Super AMOLED
March - NEC developed the world's most efficient OLED device at 156 lm/W
April - LG's 55" curved OLED TV launched in Korea for $13,500
April - AUO developed a 65" direct-emission OLED panel and a 5" Full-HD AMOLED (443 PPI)
April - Sony shows a 30" 4K panel, will release it in a professsional monitor product in 2014
May - Panasonic developed a 114 lm/W OLED panel - claims world's most efficient panel
May - LG Display shows a bendable 5" AMOLED panel
June - Samsung launches 55" curved OLED TVs in Korea for $13,000
June - LGD to start producing plastic based OLEDs in Q4 2013
June - LG starts shipping 55" curved OLED TVs in Korea
June - Sumitomo to start producing flexible, printed, structured PLEDs by early 2015
July - OLED TVs finally arrive in the US for $15,000 (from both LG and Samsung).
July - Densitron starts shipping 3.5" HVGA AMOLEDs
July - Audi, Philips and Merck show 3D OLED lighting prototypes for car rear-lights
July - Germany launches a €34 million OLED lighting project
July - Rolic opens a new OLED development center
July - Novaled and Cynora to co-develop printable OLED materials
August - Samsung starts shipping curved OLED TVs in the US, Europe and Australia
August- LG cuts OLED TV prices following Samsung
August - Samsung acquires Novaled for €260 million
August - LG Display starts installing equipment in the Gen-8 M2 OLED TV fab
September - Samsung launched the Note 3, with the brightest OLED display ever
September - Samsung Display and LG Display dropped all OLED lawsuits against each other
September - Veeco buys flexible-OLED FAST-ALD maker Synos for $70-185 million
September - LG unveils the world's largest OLED panel, a curved UHD WRGB 77" TV
October - LG mass produces flexible OLEDs, launches the G Flex with a 6" curved OLED
October - AUO finally begins AMOLED mass production at their Singapore AFPD fab
October - Samsung unveils the Galaxy Round with a flexible 5.7" Super AMOLED
November - Kateeva unveils their Gen-8 OLED TV inkjet system
November - Panasonic officially quits the plasma TV business, will focus on UHD and OLEDs
December - Sony and panasonic cancel their OLED joint-development project