Hong-Kong display driver develop Solomon Systech says that it expects strong growth for its advanced AMOLED touch controller ICs. The company says it has received several design-wins and design-in projects with OLED makers in Taiwan, Japan and China for top global smartphone brands.

Solomon also announced its next-generation flexible/foldable AMOLED touch controller IC. The company says that the new driver will deliver a step change in power and noise immunity which will enable device makers to innovate with ultra-thin displays and new foldable design concepts. The first sample of the new IC is expected to be available by the end of 2018.

MagnaChip announced its Q2 2018 financial results - with revenues of $199.7 million, exceeding its guidance and an almost 20% increase from Q2 2017. The company reported record OLED display driver revenues of $62.2 million - up 81.3% from Q1 2018 and up 300% from Q2 2017.

MagnaChip now expects that OLED revenues in 2018 will exceed the $161 million it recorded in 2016.

IGNIS Innovation announced that in collaboration with its partners, the company developed a driver chip that incorporates the ability to sense individual pixels on the panel. This new ability integrates into IGNIS' overall external compensation process and can improve the perofrmance and lifetime of AMOLED displays.

IGNIS says that this new IC is already being used on medium sized panels designed for IT and automobile applications.

This is a sponsored post by Solas OLED

Ireland-based OLED IP company Solas OLED says that its team has tripled its size since its establishment two years ago, and Solas continues to expand its electrical engineering and research team. Solar has also been granted a number of new and fundamental patents - relating to OLED design and driver circuitry.

Solas OLED will attend SID DisplayWeek 2018 (May 22-25, Los Angeles). If you're interested in contacting Solas to schedule a meeting and discuss their OLED solutions, click here.

MagnaChip announced that revenues from its OLED driver business increased 141% in Q1 2018 (compared to Q4 2017) - a higher growth than the company expected. Magnachip anticipates that total OLED growth in 2018 will also surpass its previous targets.

Magnachip secured 10 new OLED design wins in Q1 2018 from phone makers in China and elsewhere in Asia. Magnachip also announced that it launched its new 3^rd-generation 40-nm OLED display driver (DDIC) that supports edge-type displays, 21:9 and bezel-less displays and notch-type OLEDs. The new driver has already its first design-in at a leading smartphone maker

Digitimes posted an interesting article that covers the AMOLED smartphone display driver ICs market, based on information from CINNO Research.

Samsung, according to CINNO, is sourcing driver ICs from two companies - Samsung SLI and MagnaChip. As Samsung's AMOLED market share is over 90%, it means that Samsung SLI and Magnachip are also leading this market. MagnaChip itself expects its OLED revenue to grow 50% in 2018.

In May 2017, Google announced that it has partnered with "one of the leading OLED makers" to develop a high-end VR display. Google is now set to demonstrate this display at SID 2018 in May.

The new Google-designed display is a 4.3" 18Mp (1443 PPI, probably around 5500x3000 resolution) VR display featuring a refresh rate of 120 Hz. This will be the highest-density OLED display ever (not counting OLED-on-silicon microdisplays). Current VR AMOLEDs in production reach only about 600 PPI.

MagnaChip reported its financial results for Q3 2017. The company generated revenues of $176.7 million with a 28.% gross profit margin and a net income of $5.6 million.

Regarding its OLED business, Magnachip was pleased to report that revenue from OLED display driver ICs increased 15.6% from Q2 2017. The company currently anticipate that it has the potential to generate OLED revenue that will exceed 50% growth and exceed $100 million in 2018.

In a recent tradeshow ITRI demonstrated a new OLED lighting driver that can control different types of OLED panels, including rigid and flexible OLEDs. ITRI says that different OLEDs require different currents, but this driver can support all of the panels on display.

ITRI also demonstrated a new flexible lighting panel, which I believe has not been on display before.

Taiwan-based INT Tech and UltraChip have setup a new joint-venture called Ultra Display that will focus on driver ICs for AMOLED panels. Ultra Display aims to start sampling its first IC by the end of 2017, and start commercial production in 2018.

Ultra Display was launched with a capital of almost $2 million. UltraChip holds a 40% stake, while INT Tech holds 30%.