For the first quarter of 2007 Universal Display had revenue of $3,014,630, compared to $3,271,406 for the first quarter of 2006. The Company’s revenue mix continues to shift as its PHOLED technology and materials transition to commercial applications. For the first quarter of 2007, the Company reported a net loss of $4,583,801 or $(0.15) per diluted share, versus a net loss of $3,522,040 or $(0.12) per diluted share for the same quarter of 2006.

The first quarter of 2007 saw a continued transition in our revenue mix, as well as increased recognition of revenue from government contracts, said Sidney D. Rosenblatt, Chief Financial Officer of Universal Display. Commercial OLED displays manufactured by one of our major licensees continued to gain traction during the quarter, with two major display products introduced into the Asian marketplace to date. We are also excited about our recent commercial licensing agreement with Chi Mei EL Corporation, as they look to expand production of AMOLED displays for commercial products. Looking ahead to the coming quarters of 2007, we continue to pursue new commercial licensing agreements for displays and lighting, as well as strategic partnerships that will advance OLED technology and its commercial adoption.

Idemitsu Kosan is reportedly mass-producing red, blue and green fluorescent materials and provides about 50% of global demand at the current state.

Full-fledged diffusion of organic EL panels is lagging behind predictions by relevant companies, already causing some panel and material manufacturers to retreat from the business. Idemitsu forecasts the worldwide market for organic EL panels will grow to around ¥180 billion in FY2008, but a spokesperson from the company's PR department said, "It is currently very difficult to foresee when the full-fledged diffusion begins. We place our expectations in more employment of organic EL panels for the mobile phone's main display and the generation of the organic EL TV market focusing on medium- to small-size models."

Read more here (TechOn) 

Financial Summary

• Revenue for the three months ending March 31, 2007, of $3.6 million increased 120% from $1.6 million the quarter ending March 31, 2006. Revenue grew for the seventh quarter in a row, up 41% from $2.6 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2006. Increases in microdisplay demand fueled the reported growth.
• Gross margins improved to 14% of revenue from a gross loss of 85% for the quarter ended March 31, 2006. Margin growth resulted from revenue growth of 120% combined with flat cost of goods expense of $3.1 million as compared to $3.0 million in 2006.
• Net loss declined 43% for the three months ending March 31, 2007, to $2.9 million or $(0.27) per share from $5.2 million or $(0.52) per share in 2006.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said on Tuesday that it would start shipping samples of OLED panels this year and may begin mass production if demand is strong. "We have not decided whether we would go for mass production. We will first ship samples and see if there is a market for it," a spokesman for Mitsubishi Heavy said.

He said it would cost about 15 billion yen ($125 million) to build a production line which could produce 20,000 units of panels if the company decides to go for mass production. The Nikkei business newspaper reported on Tuesday that Mitsubishi Heavy will aim for mass production in 2009 and will start making prototypes at its Hiroshima plant as early as this year.

Scientists at National Taiwan University have found a way to improve the contrast by integrating OLEDs with solar cells. Not only do solar cells positioned behind an OLED provide a contrast superior to that achieved with polarizers, but they can also recycle energy that is usually wasted.

The scientists explain that OLEDs generally consist of a reflective back electrode, organic layers, and a semi-transparent electrode for light to exit. The reflective back electrode means that the device constantly reflects light, even when the device is off, and degrades the contrast when the display is on. Previous approaches to reduce the ambient light reflection and enhance the contrast result in lost energy from both the incident photons and the stifling of some internal OLED emission.

The Iriver Clix2 is now selling on amazon. The 2/4/6Gb player has a 2.2-inch QVGA AMOLED display, made by Samsung SDI.

It supports MP3/WMA/OGG/MP4/WMV formats, and it also includes an FM radio, voice/radio recording and 25 hours of battery life.

MicroEmissive Displays (MED) announced that it has completed construction of its volume manufacturing facility for PLED based microdisplays in Dresden and that the company will begin initial production of its new PLED based plug-and-play 24-bit wearable color headset display, codenamed "Telford'' in July.

The new MED facility is expected to begin volume shipping of the Telford displays in July 2007. Total capacity of the new facility is 10 million units annually.