Samsung's OLED fabs are currently under utilized - with some analysts estimating that its flexible OLED fabs are running at about 50% capacity following lower-than-expected orders from Apple. SDC also decided to delay its upcoming A5 production fab.

Samsung OLED TVs (2013)

This is a lot of wasted capacity. Last month I speculated that SDC may target new applications for its OLEDs - including monitors and laptops - or perhaps transparent OLEDs as well. According to a new report from Korea, SDC may be aiming to start constructing an A5 line - but use it to produce large-area OLED TV panels. According to a financial analyst, Samsung recently assembled a new OLED TV team with 300 R&D employees.

Sony's announced the prices of its new 2018 OLED TV, the AF8. The 55" model will retail for $2,800 while the 65" one will cost $3,800. The AF8 will ship soon in the summer. You can pre-order now at Amazon.com, although prices are higher by around $500 then Sony's official price.

The AF8 is a premium TV series (55-inch / 65-inch) that feature Sony's X1 Extreme picture processor, Sony's Acoustic Surface tech and Google and Amazon voice recognition technologies.

In 2016 it was reported that Mercedes signed an agreement with LG Display to supply its 12.3" FHD flexible P-OLED displays for a future E-Class automobile. A couple of months ago this was confirmed in a new report from Korea, that also said that Mercedes plans to launch cars with LGD's OLEDs in 2022.

A new report from Korea, now says that Mercedes-Benz is planning to adopt LGD's flexible OLED displays starting with some of the Mercedes E Class models it will release in H1 2020. Following that, Mercedes plans to use LGD's P-OLEDs in several cars - both in dashboards and in rear-seat monitors. The Mercedes will use LGD's OLEDs in the form of a wide screen, combining the dashboard and the central infotainment display.

Today we are happy to publish this short OLED explanation video, which we believe gives a nice introduction to OLED technology and to the current market status:

If you're interested in using this video in your web site, feel free to embed it!

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Researchers from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) developed a new TADF OLED emitter material that maintains its high efficiency at high luminance. The researchers say that this new material is the world's most efficient TADF emitter at high brightness.

The new material is made from two diboron-based molecules, CzDBA and tBuCzDBA. These donoracceptordonor (DAD) type and rod-like compounds concurrently generate TADF with a photoluminescence quantum yield of ~100% and an 84% horizontal dipole ratio in the thin film. The researchers synthesized a green TADF emitter that achieved a a high external quantum efficiency of about 37.8% with an efficiency roll-off of only 0.3% at 1,000 cd/m².

A few days ago OLEDWorks announces its new OLED lighting series, the Brite 3 OLEDs, which include OLEDWorks' first flexible OLED lighting panels, branded as BendOLEDs.

BASF's Coatings division announced that OLEDWorks uses the company's flexible barrier solutions in its Bright 3 family of OLED panels (both flexible and rigid). OLEDWorks uses BASF materials as planarization layer to enable highly reliable thin-film encapsulation.

Earlier this month DSCC announced that it sees low AMOLED fab utilization at SDC, following lower than expected Apple orders. The weaker-than-expected 2018 will move OLED makers to delay and cancel new OLED fab expansion plans.

DSCC now released its updated forecast numbers. The company lowered its outlook for 2018 by 22% and expects total OLED revenues to be $30.3 billion (up 30% from 2017). Looking further ahead to 2022, DSCC sees the market growing at a CAGR of 23% (down from its earlier estimates of 27%). In 2022 the total OLED market will reach $64.3 billion in revenues (down from its earlier estimates of $79.6 billion).

Ten Germany-based companies established a new OLED lighting alliance, called the "OLED Licht Forum" that aim to develop and promote OLED lighting technologies through dialogue and expert exchange. The forum will also organize conferences, lectures and institution visits.

The forum was founded by OLEDWorks, OSRAM, Merck, BASF coatings, EMDE, Fraunhofer, Hema electronic, Irlbacher, APEVA and WALO-TL. One of the first activities will be to create an OLED showroom in Germany that will be open to the public.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, autopart maker Denso agreed to invest 30 billion yen (around $282 million) in JOLED. Denso will hold a 15% stake in JOLED. Denso is not just a financial investor - by partnering with Denso, JOLED aims to penetrate the automotive display market.

Towards the end of 2017, JOLED started commercial production of its 21.6" 4K OLED panels. But this is very low volume production (at JOLED's pilot 4.5-Gen line) and JOLED is seeking to raise $900 million to support its plan to start mass producing OLEDs in 2019. Besides Denso, Panasonic, Sony, Sumitomo Chemical and Screen Holdings each agreed to invest 5 billion yen (around $47 million). JOLED is still seeking investors to complete its 900 million round.