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.

According to a report from Japan's Nikkei Asian Review, Sharp will build an OLED production line at Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou (northern China). The investment in this new fab will total around 100 billion yen (about $865 million) and production will begin in 2019. Sharp is specifically aiming to supply screens for Apple's future iPhones.

In October 2016 Sharp announced that it will invest $570 million to build OLED pilot lines in Osaka and in the Mie Prefecture. The pilot lines will begin OLED production in the summer of 2018. It was later reported that Sharp is considering to establish those lines in China instead - so it may be that this new Zhengzhou fab is actually the one reported in October.

Apple's move to adopt OLED displays in future iPhones has been discussed many times in the past, and now it is Sharp's newly appointed CEO Tai Jeng-wu turn to "confirm" these reports. During a talk in Tatung University, Tai said that Apple is indeed switching to an OLED display in future iPhones.

Tai further commented that OLED represents the best chance for Apple to truly innovate its displays - so this is both a problem and an opportunity for Apple. This cannot be considered to be a real confirmation as many reports suggest, but it is pretty clear that OLED is the way to go for future displays.

When Foxconn acquired a majority stake in Sharp for $3.5 billion, it was reported that Foxconn aims to invest a total of $1.8 billion in OLED technologies, as Foxconn aims to become an OLED supplier to Apple. In June 2016 Foxconn's president said that the company aims to start mass producing OLEDs as early as 2017, but this was way too optimistic - production will probably start at 2018 or even 2019.

An interesting article in Business Korea states that both LG Display and Samsung Display are not very worried about this competition from Japan. LG Display estimates that actually mass producing flexible OLEDs will not be as easy as Sharp hopes - and that the Japanese maker will not be able to compete with flexible OLEDs by at least 2019 or possibly 2020.

Following Foxconn's $3.5 billion Sharp Takeover, it was reported that Foxconn aims to invest a total of $1.8 billion in OLED technologies, as Foxconn aims to become an OLED supplier to Apple. In June 2016 Foxconn's president said that the company aims to start mass producing OLEDs as early as 2017, but this was way too optimistic - production will probably start at 2018 or even 2019.

Sharp recently announced plans to invest $570 million to setup pilot OLED production lines in Osaka, Japan. According to a new report from Nikkei Asian Review, Foxconn and Sharp new plan is to build the mass production lines in China and not in Japan. The two companies hope that the Chinese government will step up to help with funds. China also represents a larger market for OLED panels (including Apple's iPhones which are made in China).

When Samsung started producing AMOLED displays in 2007, AMOLED technology was at a very early stage, immature, and Samsung took a huge risk. A few years later, this risk was rewarded with a successful display business and a boost to the company's smartphone business that was the first to adopt AMOLED displays.

Fast forward to 2016, and today Samsung is still the king of AMOLED displays, with a market share of over 95% in small/medium AMOLED panels. If we look at OLED TV production, then LG Display is the only commercial producer at this stage. But Samsung and LG are not alone - several companies in China and Taiwan already started mass producing AMOLEDs, and others have announced plans for large AMOLED fabs. In this long article we'll list all of these AMOLED producers and developers (over a dozen) - and details their current production capacity and rumored and confirmed production plans.

Sharp demonstrated a new display prototype called the Corner-R, which uses the company's Free-Form IGZO LCD panel to create a display with curved corners.

From the photo above, it seems like the display is also curved around the edges like Samsung's Edge-type OLEDs, but it may be just a curved glass, I am not sure. This is just a prototype demonstration, though, it's not clear whether Sharp intents to commercialize this display.

Sharp announced that it will invest $570 million in its OLED business. The company will establish pilot lines at its plants in Osaka and in the Mie Prefecture. The pilot lines will begin OLED production in the summer of 2018.

A few weeks ago Sharp said it is aiming to collaborate with Japan Display on OLED technologies, and now the company said it is still hopeful to work with JDI. Following Sharp's announcement in August, a source from JDI said that they haven't been approached by Sharp yet.

A couple of days ago it was reported that Sharp's President, Tai Jeng-wu, said that Sharp wants to collaborate with Japan Display to co-develop OLED displays. Both Sharp and Japan Display are struggling to launch OLED production, hoping to become Apple's second AMOLED supplier.

Following Tai Jeng-wu's statement, a source from Japan Display told the Nikkei Asian Review that Sharp did not yet approach JDI on this issue, and there are no discussions yet (I assumed otherwise...). The Nikkei Asian Review speculates the Sharp may be worried that any technology shared with JDI may leak to Taiwan's Foxconn.

Foxconn's recently acquired Sharp for $3.5 billion, and the Taiwanese-based company plans to invest a total of $1.8 billion in Sharp's OLED technologies, as Foxconn aims to become an OLED supplier to Apple.

In June 2016 Foxconn's president said that Sharp aims to start mass producing OLEDs as early as 2017. But OLED mass production is not so easy to achieve, and there are already reports that Sharp is delaying those plans, and will probably not even begin production in 2018.