March 2016

Japan-based Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) announced that it has invested in Jilin OLED Materials - and acquired the exclusive global sales rights for Jilin OLED's products.

According to TNSC, Jilin, who provides OLED stack materials (including HIL, HTL, emitters and ETL materials) has made significant progress in the material development - and also acquired several key customers in China. Jilin is now looking to expand outside of China and will use TNSC's sales network and brand.

Earlier this month we reported that Kyushu University spun-off a new company, called Kyulux, to commercialize the TADF emitters developed at Kyushu. Kyulux raised ¥1.5 billion (around $13 million USD) and hopes to have their emitters ready by 2018.

According to the OLED Association, LG Display now invested a further $2.8 million in Kyulux. Kyulux also signed an agreement with Kyushu University to transfer 50 patents. Kyulux did not specify how much they paid for those patents - but it did say that the series A round (those $13 million) were raised at least partly to buy those patents.

A few weeks ago Sharp agreed to sell a two-thirds stake to Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) for $5.8 billion - but following new disclosed liabilities of around $2.7 billion the deal was canceled, and today the two companies announced a new, in which Foxconn will pay $3.5 billion.

This is the largest acquisition ever by a foreign company in a Japanese tech company and it ends the independence of a 100-year-old company. Foxconn also received an option to increase its stake in Sharp in 2017.

A couple of weeks ago LG Display demonstrated new OLED lighting products and solution at Light+Building 2016 - including the company's latest flexible OLED panels and the new mirror-solution transparent OLED-based system. LGD today published a video showing all those OLEDs and lamps at the company's L+B booth:

A couple of weeks ago LGD announced that it will invest in a Gen-5 (1000x1200 mm) OLED lighting fab that will be located in Gumi, South Korea. The initial capacity will be 15,000 monthly substrates, and LG will increase capacity depending on market reception. Mass production in the new fab is expected by the first half of 2017.

I'm happy to announce the sixth edition of The OLED Handbook, the most comprehensive resource on OLED technology, industry and market - now updated for 2016. The OLED industry grows and changes very fast, and the new edition include new details on OLED TVs, flexible and foldable OLEDs, the wearable and VR/AR markets and more.

Reading this book, you'll learn all about:

• OLED technology and materials and production processes
• How OLEDs compare to LCD displays
• OLED TVs, flexible OLEDs and transparent OLEDs
• The OLED lighting industry
• The future of OLED displays and lighting and the challenges ahead

The book also provides:

• A history of OLED development
• A guide to OLED investment
• A comprehensive list of OLED companies
• A list of existing and planned AMOLED fabs
• OLED lighting roadmaps
• An in-depth look into flexible OLEDs and OLED encapsulation

The OLED handbook has been read by hundreds of display engineers, business developers, researchers, equipment vendors, OLED material companies, private investors and others who wished to learn more about OLEDs today and in the future. I truly believe that it is the best introduction to OLED displays and lighting!

MagnaChip announced that since 2013 when initial OLED TV sales began, the company shipped over 6 million driver ICs for OLED TVs.

Since started selling OLED TVs LG Display made less than a million OLED panels - which means that each TV has over 6 driver ICs. Samsung also produced some panels back in 2013 and 2014 but in very small volume.

KGI Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple's 2017 iPhone will have a radical new design - curved panels on the device's front and back, glass covers (or perhaps plastic or ceramic, it is not decided yet). According to KGI, the iPhone 7 will sport a 5.8" AMOLED display.

Kuo says that it is likely that the 5.8" iPhone will be a replacement for the current iPhone 6+ (5.5" LCD) - but if Apple won't be able to secure enough OLED panels, it may choose to release two models, one with LCD and a premium one with an OLED display.

According to IHS, a 5" Full-HD AMOLED display now costs $14.3 (down from $17.1 in Q4 2015) - and now costs less than a similar LCD display ($14.7, down from $15.7 in Q4 2015). This is the first time an AMOLED costs less than an LCD.

IHS says that to make a 5" FHD LCD, the materials costs are $9.2 and non-material costs (including deprecation) s $5.4. For an AMOLED display, materials cost $7.2 and non material costs amount to $7.2.

The VR market is set for very fast growth in the next few years, and OLED displays are the best displays for this market - mostly because of the fast response time which is required for such applications. OLEDs also offer, of course, a better image quality, better colors, lighter weigh and better efficiency.

As companies such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Facebook and Sony enter this market, display makers are starting to develop products specifically for VR headsets. According to a report from Business Korea, the major problem with VR today is the screen density - a good VR experience requires a screen resolution that is at least three times higher than that of a mobile phone display (which is currently at around 500 PPI).

Aixtron announced that it has reached an important milestone with its new OVPD demonstrator OLAD (Organic Large Area Demonstrator). After an internal test phase lasting several months and producing excellent results in some cases, the system is now available for initial customer tests.

Aixtron says that the OVPD technology (developed originally by Universal Display, and licensed exclusively to Aixtron) offers an optimized and efficient deposition with very short cycle times compared to conventional VTE systems - which should lead to drastically reduced OLED production costs.