Earlier this month, Samsung Electronics reported high demand for their Galaxy S6 and its curved-display variant the Galaxy S6 Edge - in fact the GS6 Edge received 5 million orders (from mobile carriers, not final customers).
Now we hear reports from Korea that Samsung Electronics may decide to increase the GS6 Edge output - in fact they may want to triple the planned production, as they think the GS6 Edge may sell as many units as the 'regular' GS6.
A couple of weeks ago LG Chem announced that they have started to mass produce the world's largest OLED lighting panel at 320 x320 mm. The panels are 0.88 mm thick and feature 60 lm/W, CRI of over 90 and an output level at 800 lm - 1,200 lm. LG today revealed that the panels cost $680 per panel (lower prices for bulk orders).
LG Chem also announced that they completed the development of their "truly flexible" plastic-based OLED panels. They now offer engineering samples for $250 and mass production is expected by July 2015. Prices will be lower when mass production starts.
LG Display unveiled a new mobile phone prototype that uses a 6" plastic-OLED display that is curved on two sides. LG Display calls this panel an "Active Bending" OLED, and it's currently just a prototype panel.
The 6" panel features a disappointing 1280x720 resolution (LGD is already producing 5.5" FHD flexible OLEDs). It is only 0.7 mm thick and can reach a brightness of 300 nits.
LG finally officially announced their new curved OLED phone, the G Flex 2. This exciting new phone has a 5.5" Full-HD Flexible OLED on a plastic substrate, protected with a new glass cover developed by LG that is reportedly 20% stronger than the latest Gorilla Glass 3. The screen curves from top to bottom, with a curvature radius of 700 mm. The whole phone can be slightly bent.
The G Flex 2 has self-healing back coating, a Snapdragon 810 Octacore 2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, 16/32 GB of storage, 13 MP camera, fast-charging battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop. The phone will be released in Korea by the end of January for $740, and AT&T will carry it in the US.
Last month LG released the G Watch R smartwatch in Korea (for 352,000 Won, or $330), and today AT&T started offering it in the US as well. The G Watch R costs $299 in AT&T's online store. The watch will also be available in Europe and other key markets soon.
The G Watch R uses a 1.3" (320x320) flexible plastic-based OLED panel, Android Wear OS, a 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon 400 CPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It has a 410 mAh battery which should last about a single day.
According to Korea's It Times, LG will launch their beautiful LG G Watch R smartwatch on October 14th in Korea and major countries. The Watch will cost 352,000 Won ($330) in Korea.
The G Watch R uses a 1.3" (320x320) flexible plastic-based OLED panel, Android Wear OS, a 1.2 Ghz Snapdragon 400 CPU, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. It has a 410 mAh battery which should last about a single day.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo developed a new technology to bond polyimide films to glass so it can easily be peeled off by applying heat. Polyimide is widely used today as a flexible OLED substrate, which is indeed produced on glass and then de-laminated at the end of the deposition process. This is an expensive process today (which requires a laser) with low yields.
The new bonding technology (which they call surface activated bonding) makes it easier to remove the polyimide film. In the new process an argon io beam is used to remove the oxide and adsorption films and flatten the surfaces. A 5-20 nm thick silicon layer is formed between the glass and the polyimide by ion beam sputtering. An iron adhesion layer (1 nm thick) is formed on the silicon to reinforce the bonding.
DisplaySearch estimate that the plastic OLED display used in the Apple Watch costs more than $27 (this is the production cost, not the display price). They say it is difficult to know for sure as the cost is highly dependent on yield rates at LG Display's fab and they do not know it yet. They assume a 60% yield rate for the $27 estimation.
The $27 estimate includes the plastic AMOLED module, the touch panel interface and the cover glass (sapphire or glass, depends on the Watch model).
Samsung's newest phones, the Galaxy Note 4 and Note 4 Edge haven't been released yet, but my friend Raymond Soneira already got his hands on two pre-release production devices and posted the first review of these new AMOLED smartphones.
So first of all, the regular Note 4 displays. Ray's conclusion? This is the best mobile display ever tested at DisplayMate, surpassing the AMOLED used in the GS5 and the GN3, and also the one used in the Galaxy Tab S. The GN4 display improves on previous generations in the display density (PPI), color accurate, peak brightness (750 cd/m2) and screen readability in high ambient light and the display power efficiency.
Last month during a trade show, AU Optronics had several AMOLED panel on display, including the 1.63" 320x320 and 5" 720p ones currently in mass production. AUO also showed the 5" 720p flexible AMOLED shown below and a 5.7" WQHD panel.
According to OLEDNET, AUO is now focusing on flexible AMOLEDs, and the company will drive more resources towards developing flexible panels in 2015.
