March 2020

We are happy to announce the eighth edition of The OLED Handbook, the most comprehensive resource on OLED technology, industry and market - now updated for 2020. The OLED industry grows and changes very fast, and the new edition include new details on the OLED mobile display market, Apple's OLED plans, new production fabs in China, foldable OLEDs, OLED TVs, the Coronavirus outbreak effects 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, foldable and transparent OLEDs
• The OLED lighting industry
• The future of OLED displays 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
• An introduction to quantum dots, micro-LEDs and e-paper displays

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!

The Coronavirus pandemic has brought many restrictions and changes to the world. Governments are doing their best to enforce social distancing and quarantine regulations in order to contain the virus outbreak, but this fight inevitably brings with it negative impacts on various markets, especially consumer goods. On the OLED front, it is evident that demands for consumer devices is dropping. Hopefully, this will not be the situation forever and when the lock-down experienced in so many countries can be safely lifted, people will return to work, demand will rise and things will return to normal.

In the meantime, the display industry (OLED industry included) is not standing still - companies are continuing to develop new technologies and devices, new ideas are being tested and there is still business bring done. In fact, many companies are viewing this situation as a chance to increase productivity and R&D and become better companies.

DSCC says that OLED area shipments will grow in 2020 to around 10.5 million square meters, up from 8 million square meters in 2019 - a growth of around 31%. In terms of revenues, the OLED market will grow 35% in 2020 to reach $37.6 billion. DSCC says that in 2020, 731 million OLEDs will be produced (up 27% from 2019).

Smartphone revenues will reach $30.7 billion in 2019 (up 35% from 2019) while TV revenues will grow 28% to $3.2 billion. Smartwatch revenues will increase 11% in 2020 to $2 billlion. The revenues for all other OLED applications are expected to increase by 69% in 2020 to $1.6 billion, mainly driven by laptop OLED displays.

DSCC says that OLED panel revenues in Q4 2019 reached $8.1 billion, down 2% from Q3 2019 and pretty much the same as in Q4 2018. In terms of units, DSCC says that in Q4 2019 124 million smartphone panels were shipped, 31 million wearable panels and 998,000 TV panels.

Smartphone revenues in Q4 2019 were down 2% from Q4 2018 (due to lower average sales price for both rigid and flexible panels, the number of panels actually increased 4%), and revenues for TVs were up 30% (to $752 million). Smartwatches remain the 3rd largest market for OLED panels, and experienced strong growth in 2019, but it seems as if the growth may have plateaued (in Q4 the revenues were down 7% from last year).

In October 2019 EIZO announced the FORIS NOVA high-end monitor that features a 21.6" 4K AMOLED display (produced by JOLED in an inkjet printing process). The monitor is shipping in Japan, and now EIZO officially launched it in China as well. The price in Japan is 350,000 Yen (around $3,150 USD) and we do not know the price in China yet.

The display offers HDR support. EIZO calls this OLED monitor an entertainment monitor saying it is especially suitable for gaming and video watching. EIZO will only produce 500 units of this limited-edition monitor.

We're happy to announce the sixth edition of Graphene-Info's Graphene Handbook, the most comprehensive resource on graphene technology, industry and market - now updated for 2020. Get your copy now to stay current on graphene research, development and market. Graphene is an exciting material that has tremendous potential to be adopted in a wide range of industries - including the display industry, in backplanes, transparent conductors, LEDs, QDs and more.

The Graphene Handbook 2020 edition can be downloaded now for $97 USD (via Paypal or credit card). To secure your copy simply click here. Existing digital-copy customers are entitled to a 50% discount (and if you bought your copy in September 2019 or later, you'll get the upgrade for free). If you did not receive your upgrade coupon, contact us to get one.

For more information, and to order your copy today, visit The Graphene Handbook info page.

Canon announced that the company is looking into entering the OLED materials market. The company says its Fukui Canon Materials subsidiary will take the lead on this project, together with Canon's own R&D team.

Canon did not disclose what kind of OLED materials will be produced, but Canon has some TADF patents and it could look into TADF emitters.

This is a guest post by Sri Peruvemba, Chair of Marketing, Society for Information Display

How will computing change in the coming years? The better question to ask is what won’t change. Thanks to a new platform, microdisplays and computing in general will transform how we communicate, how we live, even the way we express ourselves to each another. Ultimately, laptops, tablets, phones or smartwatches will go the way of the CRT. As will keyboards and mice. They’ll be replaced by innovative new wearables, inconspicuous devices that will interpret eye-blinks, voice commands, and hand gestures. A miniscule camera will follow your fingertips and body movements, allowing you to transpose images and text with ease, not unlike those depicted in Ready Player One.

The basic technology is here—used by Google, Microsoft, Oculus, MagicLeap, and other pioneers. And so is the demand. Refinements that improve performance and drive down costs are needed. But the world’s biggest players are on board. Form will follow function. Economies of scale will nosedive production costs. Within this realm, three display technologies have moved to the forefront. One appears to be slipstreaming those behind it into the 22nd century—microOLEDs.

LG Electronics is getting ready to start shipping its 2020 OLED TVs, and the company announced prices and shipping dates for most of the TV models. Amazon.com now lists the TVs which can be pre-ordered.

Starting at the entry-level, LG's OLEDBX will ship in April 2020, starting at $2,500 for the 55" model. The OLEDCX range, which will probably be LG's most popular series, will also start shipping in early April 2020, with prices starting at $2130 for the 48-inch model.

We are happy to announce that we now list a new panel at the OLED Marketplace - a BOE 5.99" 1080x2160 flexible AMOLED display with a flexible touch panel.

This is a high-end smartphone display (but can be used for other applications as well) that is now in production (at BOE's B7 line in Chengdu). Check out more information over at the OLED Marketplace, or contact us now.