Maskless OLED production

Visionox announced that it has installed the first equipment in its upcoming $7.6 billion 8.6-Gen V5 AMOLED production fab in Hefei. This is an important step - and the first time an OLED lithography (maskless) equipment is intsalled in a mass production line.

A few months ago, as Visionox provided the previous update, it admitted that there are major difficulties in this project, far more than its previous projects - likely because of the new ViP process it is deploying.

Shenzhen-based HKC is reportedly progressing with its plans to build a 6-Gen OLED production line in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, and has started to approach OLED equipment vendors, seeking more information and quotes for production equipment.

According to the reports, HKC is looking to base this new fab on equipment it has acquired from Japan Display's Mobara OLED line, but increasing the capacity and adapting the technology by using new equipment to supplement the existing JDI systems.

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? 

The OLED's industry main new target, for the past several years, has been the IT display sector, mainly tablets, laptops and monitors. While we have seen OLED displays penetrate this market many years ago, the current 6-Gen AMOLED production lines are optimized for smartphone and wearable display production.

A few years ago display makers realized that OLED production lines with larger substrates will enable lower cost production, and will enable to increase the adoption of OLEDs in such devices. When this converged with technology readiness , several companies initiated new projects, all of which use 8.6-Gen (2250 x 2600 mm) substrates. In this article, we detail all four 8.6-Gen OLED production lines that are currently being built - by Samsung Display, BOE, TCL CSOT and Visionox. We also other display makers and how likely they are of launching large-scale 8.6-Gen lines as well. Finally, we see how these new lines will effect the entire OLED industry, whether it is likely we'll see new lines (do we actually need all that added capacity?) and what we expect to happen next.

The OLED industry enters 2026 at an inflection point. While the most important and established AMOLED wearable smartphone markets face near-term headwinds driven by memory price pressures, the year promises to deliver critical technological and adoption milestones that will define the next decade of display innovation. From Apple's new device launches and the first 8.6-Gen lines entering production, to the first commercial products utilizing advanced emitter materials, 2026 may prove to be an exciting year.

This article is a summary of the main OLED industry and market trends, and what we feel is an expected 2026 industry forecast. But of course – things never go according to plan, and nobody could have foreseen a worldwide pandemic or wars that break out, and their effect on the display industry. They say prophecy has been given to fools only, so one thing for certain – we are likely in for surprises!

Topics covered in this article: Smartphone and Wearable Markets, China's next five-year plan, The Geopolitical situation, The AR/VR markets, Ultra-bright OLED microdisplays, MicroLED automotive displays, 8.6-Gen IT AMOLED lines, Blue PHOLEDs, Alternative emitters, Maskless OLED production processes, Apple's OLED expansion, Automotive OLED displays and lighting, Rollable OLEDs, Industry consolidation, OLED patent disputes, HKC's entry into AMOLED production, The smartphone brightness wards, AI and OLEDs, QD-EL technology progress, Inkjet printing, The PMOLED industry.

In October 2025, Visionox announced that the main building of its $7.6 billion 8.6-Gen V5 AMOLED production fab in Hefei has been topped out. Today the company issued another update on this interesting project.

Visionox says that it has progressed with the fab construction, and it estimates that the fab is now 65% complete. The company expects to accept the deliveries of the cleanroom equipment in Q2 2026. Interestingly, the company admits that there are major difficulties in this project, far more than its previous projects - likely because of the new ViP maskless OLED production process it is deploying for the first time in the world.

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.

In recent years, several OLED producers started developing maskless OLED processes. Such processes promise to produce OLEDs that are more efficient and bright. It is expected that within a few years, we will see the first maskless OLED panels hit the market, potentially disrupting the industry.

In this article we will discuss Applied Material’s MAX OLED maskless OLED production process and systems:

• Mask-based deposition (FMM) and its limitations
• Applied’s MAX OLED photolithography technology
• The advantages of MAX OLED vs FMM
• Visionox’s ViP and JDI’s eLEAP
• The use of maskless OLED production at Samsung, SEL, LG and others
• What the future holds for maskless OLEDs