BOE Display - Page 21

In October 2017 BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its first flexible OLED line, the Chengdu B7 6-Gen fab. According to CLSA, BOE managed to increase its yields at the new fab which are now at over 60%.

The annual capacity of the B7 line, when complete and at 100% yields, will be 45,000 monthly 6-Gen substrates, or about 90 million smartphone OLEDs. According to an earlier CLSA report, BOE will ship 19 million smartphone OLEDs in 2018 and 41 million panels in 2019.

Yesterday we reported that BOE unveiled a new 7.6" 2048x1536 foldable (5R bending radius) AMOLED display, and today we have more information and a video that shows this new display.

So the display is 7.56" 2048x1536 (338 PPI) foldable AMOLED, that features a brightness of 380 nits and a color gamut of 100% NTSC. The display is 0.66 mm thick. The video also shows BOE's 6.2" 2992x1440 (537 PPI) notch-type AMOLED and its 13" 8K LCD display.

Digitimes reports that four of China's OLED makers (BOE, Visionox, Tianma and EDO) have stepped up their efforts to develop foldable OLEDs, and have all demonstrated foldable prototypes at the China Information Technology Expo 2018 (CITE 2018).

First up we have Visionox, with its 7.2" foldable panel you can see above. This was already reported last week.

In October 2017 BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its first flexible OLED line, the Chengdu B7 6-Gen fab. In addition to this fab in Chengdu, in October 2016 BOE announced another 6-Gen OLED fab, in Mianyang, with a similar capacity.

In November 2017 reports from Korea suggested that BOE is planning its third flexible OLED Line, as the Chinese company aims to ramp up production quickly and be able to supply flexible OLEDs to Apple in the future. Today BOE officially announced its plans to construct its third line in Chongqing's Liangjiang New District. BOE's new fab will cost 46.5 billion Yuan, or about $7.3 billion USD.

Financial analysts from CLSA released an interesting short report about OLED demand in China. According to IDC, OLED smartphone shipments in China was down 6% in Q4 2017 (compared to Q4 2016) to 36 million units - in line with total Chinese smartphone weakness (-8% in the same period). Total OLED smartphone shipments in 2017 reached 128 million, up 8% compared to 2016. OLED penetration was up only 1% (to 15%) in 2017.

CLSA sees lower demand in 2018 and 2019 compared to early estimates - 175 million in 2018 and 225 million in 2019. That's 11% (2018) and 20% (2019) lower than CLSA's earlier estimates. CLSA is less optimistic than before regarding the ramp-up at Tianma, Truly and CSoT.

Market research company Sigmaintell estimates that China-based display makers shipped 9.8 million OLED displays in 2017, mostly for smartphone applications. Everdisplay was the largest producer in terms of units, shipping 3.8 million displays (enjoying large orders from Huawei and Hisense), while Visionox was the top vendor in terms of display area shipped (30,000 square meters, out of a total 78,000 sqm produced in China in 2017).

Looking into 2018, Sigmaintell sees a large increase in production volume in 2018. Visionox landed orders from ZTE and Xiaomi and is expanding its production capacity, and BOE is also expected to increase shipments from its flexible 6-Gen AMOLED fab that will enter full capacity in Q2 2018. Finally, Tianma is also expected to increase production having won orders from Asustek Computer.

In August 2017, Japan Display announced a strategic focus on OLED displays as the losing display maker failed to keep up with the industry shift to OLEDs. JDI announced it will raise funds to accelerate its OLED plans and prepare for mass production in 2019.

In October 2017 Japan Display estimated that it will require more than 200 billion Yen (around $1.77 billion USD) to start mass producing OLEDs in 2019, and the company started reaching out to display makers in China and Korea as finding a partner in Japan is difficult. JDI hoped to finalize its financing by March 2018, but according to a new report from Japan the investors in China, while initially eager to participate, are now hesitating.

UBI Research estimates that the global AMOLED production capacity will grow at a CAGR of 48% from 2018 to 2020. Overall production size will grow from 13 million square meters in 2017 to 40 million square meters in 2020.

Small and medium-sized displays will continue to lead the AMOLED market, with 32 million square meters in 2020 (compared to 8.4 million in 2020). Samsung Display will continue to dominate but its market share will drop to around 45% in 2020 (down from around 90% in 2017).

BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its first flexible AMOLED line, the Chengdu B7 6-Gen fab, in October 2017. Financial analysts from CLSA say that according to their checks, the ramp-up at the B7 is ahead of schedule, and CLSA expects BOE to ship 19 million smartphone OLEDs in 2018 and 41 million panels in 2019.

CLSA says that major Chinese smartphone makers will launch the first smartphones that use BOE's flexible OLEDs in February and March or 2018. CLSA says it won't be surprised to hear BOE announcing new OLED fab plans soon (in H1 2018).

Display Analysts from DSCC says that 2017 was a record year for the display equipment market, with revenues reaching a record $24.7 billion (up 30% from 2016). OLED spending reached a record $15.5 billion - a 143% increase over 2016. Samsung's share of the OLED equipment market was 48%, followed by BOE with $24% (following a 229% growth from 2016).

OLED equipment revenues represents 63% of the entire display equipment market, surpassing LCD - which saw revenues dropping 27% from 2016. In 2018 DSCC sees the equipment market falling 9%, although booking will increase as growth will resume in 2019. The main reason behind the decline in 2018 is due to Samsung which will reduce its equipment orders by 64% in 2018. 2018 is expected to be the first year where China leads in OLED spending with a 64% to 36% advantage over Korea.