August 2016

On January 11-13 Shanghai will host the annual Printed and Flexible Electronics China conference, organized by Demand-LED. This event aims to bring together industry professionals for a chance to be updated on the latest printed electronics advances, while getting a chance to network with industry leaders in China - and globally.

The event focuses on several topics (or tracks), and these include OLEDs, Quantum Dots, sensors, graphene, VR and AR, wearables, wireless power and energy. Approved keynote speakers include professionals from Universal Display, the OLED Association, Visionox, First O-Lite, TCL and more.

A couple of days ago it was reported that Sharp's President, Tai Jeng-wu, said that Sharp wants to collaborate with Japan Display to co-develop OLED displays. Both Sharp and Japan Display are struggling to launch OLED production, hoping to become Apple's second AMOLED supplier.

Following Tai Jeng-wu's statement, a source from Japan Display told the Nikkei Asian Review that Sharp did not yet approach JDI on this issue, and there are no discussions yet (I assumed otherwise...). The Nikkei Asian Review speculates the Sharp may be worried that any technology shared with JDI may leak to Taiwan's Foxconn.

One of the key requirements for VR application is high-density displays, as small-sized displays are magnified to cover our whole field of view. Some estimate that realism VR demands around 2,000 PPI.

During SID 2016, Samsung announced it developed a 806 PPI AMOLED especially for VR application. This is an upgrade from current OLEDs, but still a far cry from the 2,000 PPI mentioned above.

Taiwan-based PitekPro launched a new 256x64 monochrome white PMOLED display. According to the company, this display is aimed to replace 16x2 character displays (whether PMOLED ones, or competing LCD displays) so that device makers can upgrade easily from a character display to a graphic one.

The display is 2.08" in size (127 PPI) and is said to be easy to use. You can find more information over at the OLED Marketplace, our own comprehensive OLED catalog. Contact us if you want more details on this panel.

Foxconn's recently acquired Sharp for $3.5 billion, and the Taiwanese-based company plans to invest a total of $1.8 billion in Sharp's OLED technologies, as Foxconn aims to become an OLED supplier to Apple.

In June 2016 Foxconn's president said that Sharp aims to start mass producing OLEDs as early as 2017. But OLED mass production is not so easy to achieve, and there are already reports that Sharp is delaying those plans, and will probably not even begin production in 2018.

Last week Innolux demonstrated new rigid and flexible AMOLED prototypes, and the company says it aims to mass produce AMOLEDs - starting in 2017 with small-sized displays for wearable applications.

Even though Innolux is hopefully finally getting back to the OLED market, its CEO is still skeptical. Wang Jyh-chau says that OLED cannot replace LCD in terms of performance-cost ratio and reliability. As new display technologies (mainly Micro-LED) are being developed, OLED's future is uncertain.

It 2013 it was reported that TCL plans to invest over $4 billion to build a new 8.5-Gen LCD and OLED fab in Shenzhen, owned by CSOT. The so-called Huaxing Power Two OLED fab never materialized... at least until now.

TCL released information that it now seeks to $6.96 billion to build a new LCD and OLED Gen-11 production fab in Shenzhen. The new fab, built by TCL and Shenzhen Huaxing Power with help from the Shenzhen Economic and Trade Commission, will have a monthly capacity of 90,000 Gen-11 substrates (3370x2940 mm) and use IGZO backplanes.

A couple of months ago it was reported that Samsung Display decided to start large-area transparent OLED production - before mass production actually began. The Korea Herald confirms this report today, saying that this is due to "low marketability" - or in other words low demand.

It seems that SDC may wish to find other uses for its V1 R&D production line, currently used to produce experimental products and those prototype 55" transparent OLED displays. According to the Herald's report, Samsung may wish to convert this line to mass produce small sized OLED displays as demand for OLEDs in mobile phone is soaring and SDC cannot make enough displays to satisfy its customers.

Turkish domestic appliances maker Arçelik says that it will launch its first OLED TV next month. Arçelik first OLED TV will feature a 65" 4K HDR panel, of course produced by LG Display.

Arçelik aims to be Turkey's first OLED TV maker. In 2015 Vestel, another producer based in Turkey, says it will bring OLED TVs to market in 2017.

Lenovo announced its OLED X1 Yoga laptop-tablet hybrid back in January 2016, and the high-end OLED laptop is finally shipping. Engadget posted a review, and it appears that the display is simply stunning.

The reviewer says that the OLED display simply "blew his mind", and concludes his review saying that "the Thinkpad X1 Yoga is a reminder that OLED isn't just bright and bold, it's a transformative display technology. Now if only it weren't so expensive".