CNet reports that Samsung Display officials have confirmed that the company will unveil a 5.5" 1,280x720 (267 ppi) plastic-based flexible OLED display at CES 2013 (January 8). The screens on show will be curved, but apparently they will not (yet) roll up. SD still has to develop the touch panel and final encapsulation, according to CNet.

It's not clear yet how close Samsung are to actually commercializing such technology. Originally Samsung planned to release the first plastic-based OLEDs in 2012, but this was pushed back to 2013. I'm not entirely sure Samsung will actually be able to mass produce such displays in 2013.

Earlier this week we posted about Dezeen magazine's Philips' Lumiblade Creative Lab visit. Now Dezeen published a second video, this time focusing on Philips' Moorea lamp. Moorea is designed by Daniel Lorch. It sports two GL350 Lumiblade OLED panels (made by Philips) supported on a sprung-steel stem. Total light output is 240 lm.

Philips are already offering a limited edition lamp, but they also plan a large series release in 2013.

DisplaySearch says that AMOLED displays have captured 6% of the small/medium display market in 2012 (this means displays that are 9" in size and smaller). They say that in 2015 penetration will more than double to 13%.

In 2012 total OLED shipments (which include PMOLED and AMOLED panels) will reach 191 million units, or 8.4% of the total small/medium display category. Total OLED shipments almost doubled from 2010, as can be seen from the chart below:

Global OLED Technology (GOT) have won two key patent challenges in Europe (defending oppositions from Merck). GOT says this is significant for GOT and demonstrates that they will aggressively defend their patent rights throughout the world.

The first patent was EP 1730249, which details the use of certain anthracenes as non-emitting hosts in the light-emitting layers of OLED devices. The second patent is EP 1828342, which details the use of hole-transporting material adjacent to the phosphorescent light emitting layer. Both of these technologies enable high efficiency and long lifetime in OLEDs for both display and lighting applications.

I'm happy to announce that OLED-Info's infrastructure was updated today. OLED-Info is based on the open-source Drupal CMS, and we updated from version 6 to version 7. This took quite a while and was quite a dfificult process. As a reader you will not find many differences, but hopefully it will enable a more stable, safe and quick web site.

This new version will also allow us to include new features in OLED-Info. Stay tuned...

Update: according to Panasonic's 3-year plan unveiled on March 2013, the company will keep making Plasma TVs.

There are reports that Panasonic considers whether to stop plasma R&D by March 2013, and focus on OLED TVs and other display technologies instead. Panasonic will still produce plasma TVs (and industrial-use displays) for the "time being". The main reason for this move is the technological improvements in LCDs in past years.

Sony OLED TV prototype

Back in September 2012 it was reported that Panasonic has taken steps to streamline its R&D and put more focus on OLED TV development, with plans to invest ¥30 billion ($385 million) in a pilot AMOLED production line in Himeji (this was already reported in April).

Taiwanese newspaper CENS reports that AUO finally managed to increase its AMOLED yield rate to over 50% (in its 3.5-Gen Linkou, New Taipei City fab). AU Optronics is now set to start mass producing AMOLEDs in Q1 2013, and in fact its entire AMOLED capacity has been booked by HTC.

Actually back in September 2012 Digitimes reported that AUO reached 50% yield, but the company didn't start mass production yet. Hopefully this time the report is accurate.

Dezeen magazine visited Philips' Lumiblade Creative Lab and posted a nice story and video showing lot's of OLED installations, lamps and panels, including the interactive mirror, the LivingSculpture modular 3D system, structured OLEDs and the OLED automobile backlight prototype. My friend Dietmar Thomas (Philips OLED unit Communication Specialist) is hosting this video:

Philips is currently offering several OLED lighting panels (we reviewed a couple of them in November 2011). In February 2012 they released an OLED lighting roadmap, according to which we can expect transparent OLEDs in 2013 (the video above shows a prototype transparent panel), and flexible 1x1 meter OLEDs by 2018.

DisplaySearch posted an interesting blog post, in which they say that both Samsung and LG Display have decided, due to technical difficulties with OLED TV production, to put more emphasis in high-definition TVs (4K2K, or UHD), and delay OLED TV production. DisplaySearch also says that most consumers will prefer a larger and cheaper LCD TV over a high-end, slim OLED TV.

Both Samsung and LGD first unveiled their stunning 55" OLED TVs in January 2012, but they haven't managed to actually launch these TVs yet. According to the post, the yield in Samsung's and LGD's AMOLED TV fabs is still in the single digits, and even after repairing panels, the yield will be less than 30%. In addition, frit encapsulation is too fragile for large area TV, and so the panel lifetime is reduced.

Yesterday a Taiwanese web site reported that Applied Materials is planning to setup a flat-panel R&D center in Southern Taiwan Science Park. The new center will focus on 8.5-Gen LCD production and OLED technologies. Applied hopes to assist AU Optronics and Innolux with their OLED projects. The investment in the center is expected to exceed NT$5 billion (over $170 million USD).

A few hours later, Digitimes posted that sources from Applied Materials denied these rumors - saying that the company has no such plans. Applied does have a manufacturing center in Taiwan that will continue providing solutions largely for Taiwan-based customers.