Japan OLED industry

An interesting report from Japan suggests that JDI is moving forward with selling two of its fabs in Japan. The first is the Mobara fab, that used to produce OLED wearable displays to Apple. The equipment has already been sold to HKC, and now it is reported that Micron is looking into acquiring the facility itself.

The more interesting bit concerns JDI's 4.5-Gen Ishikawa fab, which has been used to produce display backplanes. According to the report, US OLED lighting developer OLEDWorks is interested in this facility.

A group of five Universities from Japan and Taiwan have launched a joint project to develop core technologies for circularly-polarized OLEDs (CP-OLED). These kind of OLEDs natively emit circularly polarized light, enabling higher-performance devices, and are of high interest to the research community (see the recent Bright Side with Brannan report on CP-OLEDs).

The research project is led by Kindai University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), and also includes Ibaraki University, Osaka Metropolitan University, and National Central University (NCU). The joint project is supported by the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, under the Joint Research Grant Program in Natural and Applied Sciences. 

Seiko Epson Corporation and its Epson X Investment Corporation announced that they have jointly made an additional investment in Gosan Tech, a South Korean inkjet printing technology developer. This follows the company's first investment into Gosan in April 2025. Epson did not disclose the investment amount.

Gosan Tech, established in 2015 in South Korea, is a manufacturer of inkjet process equipment for display and solar cell (perovskite) production. Epson says that Gosan Tech developed an ink supply system, pressure control technology, and simulation technology that enable it to achieve excellent ink droplet uniformity and precision. 

In March 2026, we reported that Japan Display (JDI) is considering constructing a display fab in the US, with support form the Japanese government - as part of a the 2025 US-Japan trade agreement. JDI later confirmed the report, and it is indeed looking into launching JDI display fabs in the US, but said nothing is final yet.

According to new reports, Japan Display's latest plan is to build an eLEAP AMOLED fab, in New York State, in collaboration with OLEDWorks. The total investment will reach $12.5 billion. JDI's new fab will mostly target high-end markets, such automotive displays and displays for the defense industry.

Last month we reported that Japan Display (JDI) is considering constructing a display fab in the US, with support form the Japanese government - as part of a the 2025 US-Japan trade agreement.

JDI now officially confirmed that the company is considering launching JDI-operated advanced display manufacturing fabs (plural!) in the US. The company says that no decision has yet been made regarding these production lines, though.

Last year, we reported that LG Display is looking into adopting Japan Display's eLEAP technology at its OLED TV production lines in Paju, perhaps seeking to produce RGB AMOLED displays for IT applications at these fabs that are currently under utilized.

Today we hear that LG Display is now progressing with this plan, and is checking an investment plan to apply eLEAP into its large-area OLED production lines. 

In January 2026, Sony announced a plan to spin-out its TV and home audio business to a separate entity, bringing TCL as a 51% stakeholder. 

The two companies today announced that this deal is official, and the agreement has been signed. The new company will be called Bravia, Inc, and indeed TCL will own 51% while Sony will own 49%. Its TVs will still be branded as Sony Bravia TVs, and the headquarters will be located at Sony’s Tokso Osaki office. Bravia Inc. is expected to begin operations in April 2027 (so a year from today exactly).

For most of OLED's commercial history, the industry operated as a near-monolith: virtually every panel maker deposited RGB organic materials through a Fine Metal Mask (FMM) on 6th-generation glass (or polyimide substrates with a glass carrier), while LG Display stood as the sole practitioner of its WRGB architecture for large-area OLED production.

In recent years, we have seen the emergence of new OLED architectures, processes and materials that signal the end of this technological uniformity. In this article, we examine the different technologies, speculate how the industry is changing and where it is headed - and understand the implications for supply chain companies. 

In 2025 , the US and Japan signed a trade agreement, which included a commitment by Japan to invest $550 billion directly in the US. These funds will be targeted at industries such as energy, critical minerals, pharmaceutical and medical, shipbuilding - and semiconductor manufacturing and research, with an aim to rebuild U.S. capacity from design to fabrication.

According to a new report from Japan, and as part of that trade agreement and investment commitment, the Japanese government is now looking at building a $13 billion fab in the US, that will be operated by Japan Display. In this article, we look at JDI's history and capabilities (LCD and OLED production), consider the geopolitical implications and the market that this new fab will address, speculate whether it makes sense for JDI to initiate OLED production in the US (or will it choose LCD, or perhaps even microLED), and if so - which technologies and architectures will this fab utilize? 

Panasonic announced a strategic partnership with Skyworth, in which the Chinese TV maker will produce, market and sell Panasonic branded TVs. Panasonic itself will provide expertise and quality assurance for these TVs.

The two companies will join forces to develop new high-end OLED TVs. Skyworth is estimated to be the third largest OLED TV producer (following LG Electronics and Sony), but was mostly focused on its domestic market in China. Now this partnership will enable it to grow globally, using Panasonic's well-trusted global TV brand.