Photonics-based solutions provider Coherent announced their financial results for Q4 2015, which were below estimates, but the company reported high bookings, mostly for its Linebeam systems which are used for laser annealing (turning a-Si into LTPS) for OLED producers.
Last quarter Coherent reported that they shipped their third $20-million Linebeam 1500 OLED ELA system in the quarter. Back then Coherent expected substantial new OLED orders in 2016 and now they confirm that. Coherent reports that they received a large (well in excess of $150 million) for OLED systems - and they have a "significant number" of orders pending for the balance of the second quarter and for the remainder of fiscal 2016. Deliveries of the new systems will begin in June 2016 and will run through 2017.
We know that Coherent supplies ELA systems to Samsung Display for its AMOLED production lines. Coherent says that the new orders are for OLED makers based in Korea, Japan and China - and the systems will be used to produce mobile displays and not TV panels. This is not a surprise as currently OLED TV production at LG Display is based on Oxide-TFTs and not LTPS.
It's finally starting.