DuPont announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art, scale-up manufacturing facility designed to deliver production scale quantities of advanced solution-based printed OLED materials. DuPont specifically says that these materials will target OLED TV applications.
The new OLED facility has large-scale formulation systems and can support simultaneous production of multiple product lines. DuPont invested over $20 million in this new facility, which was also funded by a grant from the state of Delaware back in 2012.
A few months ago we posted an interview with DuPont's OLED unit Director of Operations, who updated us on the company's materials and OLED technologies. DuPont recently signed an agreement with Kateeva to co-develop solutions for ink-jet printed OLEDs.
It's puzzling that Kateeva and DuPont are trying to target TVs for inkjet-printed OLEDs. I've read previously that limited lifetime is the issue that has prevented adoption of printed OLEDs so far. So, why not start with smartphone screens for inkjet-printed OLEDs since the lifetime requirements are lower? Samsung and LG started with phone screens for their current OLEDs before trying TVs, and it seems Kateeva and DuPont should be doing the same. What am I missing?