Tianma demonstrated a new AMOLED display panel at SID Displayweek, that sports a micro-lens array that helps to decrease power consumption by 10-15%.

The so-called MLP panel is 6.2" in size with a 876x2142 resolution (373 PPI) and a brightness of 420 nits. The pixel configuration is, interestingly, YYG - yellow and green sub-pixels, which means that this display uses color filters.

In March 2021 Tianma unveiled a new OLED display technology, which it refers to as CFOT OLED - a polarizer-free OLED that adopts color-filters instead to remove reflections. The company demonstrated a 8.03" CFOT OLED prototype at SID Displayweek 2021:

Tianma says that a CFOT OLED enables a thinner design, improves the light emittance and also cuts the power consumption by 20%. The 8.03" display offers a resolution of 2000x2544 (403 PPI).

DSCC says that OLED production will grow 94% in the Q2 2021, fueled by strong demand for OLED in smartphones, TVs and other devices - coupled with a recovery from the pandemic. Growth in OLED input area for small & medium displays is expected to grow 68%, while grow in OLED TV input area will grow by 134% over last year.

The chart above shows the total OLED (and mobile LCD) industry capacity. As you can see, flexible OLED capacity is growing - mainly from expansions by CSoT, Tianma and Visionox. There's also growth in rigid OLED capacity - from Everdisplay and JOLED.

Tianma unveiled a new OLED display technology, which it refers to as CFOT OLED. This new foldable AMOLED display improves over the company's previous design with a lowered power consumption. The new displays are also thinner than before. The company demonstrated a 8.3-inch CFOT OLED:

We do not know much about this new technology. But from the performance boost and the CF part of the name, it is likely that this is a polarizer-free OLED that adopts color-filters instead to remove reflections.

In August 2019 China-based Tianma announced plans for a 6-Gen flexible AMOLED line in Xiamen, China. Total investment in the new fab is estimated at $6.8 billion USD and the monthly capacity will be 48,000 6-Gen substrates. The company's initial plan was to start production at the new fab was to begin in February 2022.

According to a new report from China, Tianma finished the construction of the main building of the new fab, 50 days ahead of schedule.

According to reports from Korea, Tianma plans to ship 40 million OLED panels in 2021. It is estimated that Tianma shipped a million panels in 2020, which means that this is quite an aggressive sales expansion for the Chinese display maker, and according to the report analysts expect the company to actually ship only around 7.5 million panels.

Tianma produces rigid OLEDs at its 5.5-Gen line in Shanghai, and in 2017 Tianma started producing rigid and flexible OLEDS at the company's 6-Gen fab in Wuhan. Later in 2018 the company announced plans to expand its Wuhan flexible AMOLED fab. This expansion plan was reportedly delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

DSCC posted an interesting chart that details OLED smartwatch shipments by supplier. This is an interesting market as there are almost 10 suppliers with no dominant player:

In fact DSCC says that there are five different OLED panel makers (BOE, SDC, LGD, EDO and Truly) that each has a market share over 10% in 2020.

US-based OLED inkjet printing developer Kateeva announced that Tianma has ordered an R&D 200mm YIELDJet Explore printing system to expand its OLED research and development programs.

Kateeva reveals that Tianma is already using its TFE system in its OLED mass production fabs. Kateeva also says that this tool will be the 60th Kateeva printer at customer sites.

In 2017 Tianma started producing rigid and flexible OLEDS at the company's 6-Gen fab in Wuhan. Later in 2018 the company announced plans to construct the 2nd phase of the Wuhan AMOLED fab.

According to the OLED Association, Tianma is now delaying the phase 2 of this fab, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Originally Tianma aimed to start production in Q1 or Q2 2020, but this will now be delayed to Q3 2020. The 2nd phase adds a capacity 15,000 monthly 6-Gen substrates (in addition to the 15,000 substrates already in production).

IHS Markit says that smartphone AMOLED shipments reached 146 million in Q3 2019 - a record high, and up from 93 million in the second quarter. LTPS LCD shipments reached 144 million - and this is the first quarter in which AMOLED shipments surpassed LTPS LCD shipments. a-SI LCD is still the leading technology with shipments of 177 million.

Following the increased demand for AMOLED displays, Samsung Display regained its leading position in the market (with a 29% market share), replacing BOE. The third largest suppler is Tianma.