Innolux

Exactly one year ago in December 2024, Japan Display announced a strategic partnership with Taiwan-based Innolux and CarUX (Innolux's automotive display company) to bring eLEAP OLED displays to the automotive market. 

Today Innolux's CEO announced that this strategic partnership has been terminated. Innolux explains that the two companies, even after many discussions and plans, have failed to reach a commercial agreement.

Inkjet printing of OLED displays has been in development for many years, driven by the potential of this deposition technology to reduce the cost of OLED display manufacturing.

Currently, the vast majority of AMOLED, WOLED, and QD-OLED production relies on evaporation methods to deposit OLED layers. In these processes, OLED molecules are evaporated and then deposited onto the required substrates. For AMOLED displays, precise subpixel patterning is necessary, which requires the use of a fine metal mask (FMM). While subpixel patterning is less complex for WOLED and QD-OLED production, these technologies still depend on material evaporation.

Evaporation-based OLED deposition has enabled the large-scale production of high-quality, affordable OLED displays found in wearables, smartphones, tablets, laptops, monitors, and TVs. This approach forms the foundation of today’s OLED industry, which exceeds $40 billion in value. This article will examine the alternative approach of OLED inkjet printing, review its history and current status, and consider its future prospects.

Table of contents for this article

• Introduction to OLED deposition processes
• Soluble OLED materials and processes
• OLED inkjet printing – history and technology progress
• Inkjet printing of OLED TFE and QD-OLEDs
• TCL CSoT – the last inkjet printing champion?

Japan Display announced a new strategic partnership with Taiwan-based Innolux and CarUX (Innolux's automotive display company) to bring eLEAP OLED displays to the automotive market. 

The three companies did not disclose a lot of details, but it seems as in this partnership JDI will produce the eLEAP OLED displays while CarUX will market and sell these displays to its automotive customers. The first display that JDI will produce will be a 32" 1,000 nits 6460x880 (205 PPI) AMOLED display on an HMO (high-mobility oxide) backplane.

Taiwan-based Innolux demonstrated several new display technologies that will enable the company to compete against OLED displays. First up we have this 55" rollable mini-LED display prototype. This is an emissive mini-LED display, it is not a mini-LED backlit LCD display.

Innolux did not disclose any specifications on this display (not even the resolution), but it did say that the display use a flexible PCB and features "high curvature, high brightness, high contrast, high saturation and high definition dynamic picture". Innolux says that rollable OLEDs face challenges of reliability and cost and this technology could prove to succeed where rollable OLEDs cannot.

DSCC says that OLED mobile display production capacity will overtake LCD capacity in 2020, and will reach a 65% market share in 2025.

Looking at the entire display market (mobile and TV and others), DSCC sees OLED production capacity rising at a 20% CAGR till 2025, and OLED's market share will rise from 5% in 2019 to 14% in 2025.

In October 2017 Taiwan-based Innolux started to produce its first flexible AMOLED display, a round 1.39" 400x400 (287 PPI) panel. This is a great display for wearable applications, mostly smart watches.

The short video above shows this interesting display in action, in our demo kit (which is also available to order).

UK-based OTFT developer SmartKem announced that it has signed a landmark deal with a leading display maker in Taiwan that will enable the display maker to commercialize SmartKem's OTFT technology in flexible displays.

The agreement will see a complete technology transfer, including production line deployment and supply of materials. This agreement marks the culmination of the LOI signed in November 2017. SmartKem updates us that this agreement covers both LCD and OLED displays.

UK-based OFTF developer SmartKem announced that it has signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) with a display maker in Taiwan to develop and mass produce commercial displays using its OTFT technology.

SmartKem did not name this company, but they did say that the company produces both LCD and AMOLED displays, which means it is likely to be either AU Optronics or Innolux. It is not clear whether the Taiwanes display maker will use SmartKem's technology for future OLED or LCD displays (or, most likely, both).

Taiwan-based Innolux has started to produce flexible AMOLED displays, starting with a round 1.39-inch 400x400 (287 PPI) panel. The new AMOLED is aimed towards wearable (smart-watch) applications and is now in mass production.

It is great to see another display producer entering the OLED market. This is also the first flexible AMOLED on the market besides those made by Samsung and LG Display. Innolux is willing to sell these panels to low-volume customers, contact us for more details. You can also view the full technical specifications of the new AMOLED here.

In 2016 Sharp announced that it will invest $570 million in its OLED business, with plans to construct two 4.5-Gen OLED pilot production lines in Japan (or maybe China?) with plans to start low volume production in 2018.

Innolux AMOLED prototype, 2012

Sharp is owned mostly by Foxconn, who also owns Innolux, and reports in 2016 said that the Foxconn aims to integrate Sharp and Innolux's display business, focusing on OLEDs and IGZO technologies. Innolux's honorary chairman now says that Innolux is indeed cooperating with Sharp on OLED R&D, and the Taiwanese company is supporting Sharp's 4.5-Gen OLED factory construction in Japan.