According to a new report from Korea, Samsung has decided to build a new flexible OLED 6-Gen (1500x1850 mm) production line (A4E, although this could be a tentative name), which will be located at Samsung's Asan production complex.
The new fab will have a monthly capacity of 30,000 substrates. The first phase (15,000 substrates) will enter production by the end of 2022, and the second phase a year later. Total investment is estimated at over 1 trillion KRW (around $854 million USD).
According to reports from Korea, P&H Tech signed a long-term contact with Dupont, for the supply of OLED materials. The deal, worth $6 million USD (paid up front), will last until 2028.
It is not clear what kind of materials will P&H Tech supply - whether these will be OLED intermediates or OLED stack materials, as P&H supplies both. The company did say that the materials it will supply to Dupont "can improve the life and luminance of OLED panels".
Earlier this year, OLED driver IC developer MagnaChip announced that it is being acquired by China-based Wise Road Capital, for $1.4 billion. We reported that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is looking into blocking this deal, and now the CFIUS made its final decision.
The CFIUS stated that "It has confirmed the national security risks that may arise in the United States from the acquisition of MagnaChip by the Chinese private equity fund". This pretty much cancels the potential acquisition.
LG Display says it will expand the capacity of its OLED assembly plant in Vietnam in a $1.4 billion investment.
The OLED plant, located in Hai Phong City, is used to assemble OLED panels - for mobile devices, TVs and automotive displays. The plant's capacity will grow from around 10 million monthly units to 13-14 million.
OLED microdisplay maker eMagin has been developing direct-emission OLED microdisplay (also called directly-patterned, or dPd) for many years, and is considered to be the leading company - the closest one to commercialize such a display. A dPd will enable much higher efficiency/brightness compared to current designs based on color filters.
In the past eMagin reported of several leading companies that have licensed the technology and/or are working with the company towards the design of custom dPd OLED displays for future AR/VR products. In 2017 for example eMagin reported of a Tier-1 CE company that licensed its dPd tech, and in 2020 the company said it started a new consumer-related AR development project for a next-generation display for a Tier-1 customer.
A few weeks ago LG Display noted that it is reviewing a plan to expand the capacity of its mobile OLED production plants, and today LGD announced its formal plan to invest 3.3 trillion Won (around $2.8 billion) to expand pOLED capacity.
LGD will expand its 6-Gen AMOLED production capacity, and this expansion project will finish by March 2024. LGD did not provide any more details about this plan. LGD is enjoying high demand for its mobile AMOLED displays, with Apple one of its major customers.
OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reported mixed quarter results for Q2 2021. Production issues and unexpected manufacturing tool downtime reduced revenues, but the company says it increased shipments to military, medical and other customers. Revenues in the quarter were $6.3 million (down from $7.7 million in Q2 2020). Net loss in the quarter was $0.3 million (but this includes a $2.6 million non-cash profit due to change in value of a warrant liability).
eMagin says it continued to make steady progress on the direct-emission microdisplay project, and remains on schedule to produce full-color prototypes this year. eMagin also reports it is ramping up production of its latest XLE technology (which still uses color filters) and has closed a major design win with a military customers for XLE OLED microdisplays.
Korea-based optical equipment maker Philoptics announced that it raised around $3.5 million that will be dedicated to the development of FMM technologies for OLED production. The company aims to raise a further $8.6 million by the end of the year to continue the development.
Philoptics will use the funds to finalize the development of 6-Gen FMM masks and build a pilot production line for these masks. Philoptics FMM production uses electro forming, where an invar is plated on a patterned substrate. The company says that using this method the FMM masks are thinner compared to other technologies which can increase the possible OLED resolutions under production.
Universal Display reported its financial results for Q2 2021. Revenues were $129.7 million, and net income was $40.5 million.
The company expects its 2021 revenues to be in the range of $530 million to $560 million - which will mean a revenue growth of around 30% over 2020.
OLED driver IC developer MagnaChip has reported its financial results for Q2 2021. Display revenues were "negatively impacted by severe supply constraints that continued to deepen in the second quarter".
The company says it cannot meet its customers needs, due to the global component shortages as well as changes in Mangachip's foundry partners' wafer allocation plans. The company continues to work closely with its strategic customers and foundry partners to secure long-term supply capacity for OLED DDICs, being mindful of the fact that global supply constraints are having a significant impact on the OLED business.
