Flexible OLEDs: introduction and market status - Page 34

Last month BOE started to produce flexible OLED displays at its Chengdu B7 fab, and according to ETnews the company is aiming to become a future Apple supplier and so is planning ambitious flexible OLED capacity expansion.

BOE's B7 fab, the company's first flexible AMOLED line, will have a full capacity of 48,000 6-Gen substrate per month (this will only be achieved in the first half of 2019). In October 2016 BOE announced another 6-Gen OLED fab (the B11 line) in Mianyang. The Miangyang fab will have a similar capacity and will initiate production in 2019.

Visionox participated at the 19th China International Hi-Tech Fair opened in Shenzhen, and the company demonstrated several new OLED prototype panels. Visionox demonstrate several "full-screen" AMOLEDs, including a 6.01" one and a 5.99" flexible one.

According to the Chinese report, Visionox has stated its flexible OLED "roadmap" as the company wants to start with curved panels, then move to foldable and finally to stretchable displays. Visionox says it has achieved mass production technology for curved OLEDs, but according to our information its first flexible AMOLED fab will only begin production in the summer of 2018.

The Holst Centre is demonstrating a new optimized encapsulation (barrier) layer for foldable OLED panels. The new barrier is made from an organic layer sandwiched between two layers of silicon nitride (SiN). These are standard materials, but by optimizing the stack design the researchers at the Holst Centre were able to control its mechanical properties and create a much more flexible barrier.

The Holst researchers used an organic material that can withstand 400 °C and can be applied by slot-die coating. This allows the SiN layers to be deposited at 350 °C, improving their quality and ability to prevent water penetration. The Holst tested the OLED prototypes that use the new barrier for 1,000 hours (in accelerated lifetime testing) and no black spots appeared, even after 10,000 folding cycles (bending radiud 0.5 mm).

In January 2015 the EU launched a new project to develop next-generation large-area OLED microdisplays. The so-called LOMID (Large cost-effective OLED microdisplays and their applications) project's main goal is to produce 13x21 mm (~1-inch diagonal) 1200x1920 (2,300 PPI) 120Hz curved OLED microdisplay.

Dr. Uwe Fogel, the project's coordinator from the Fraunhofer FEP institute, updated today that the consortium managed to produce the first microdisplay samples at satisfactory yields, and it is now improving these yields. LOMID partners are already demonstrating the microdisplays in smart glasses for both VR and visually-impaired people.

IHS says that demand for flexible AMOLED displays is growing at a slower pace than expected - and also at a slower rate than its supply, and as a result the demand in 2018 will be 44% lower than the supply.

IHS says that flexible OLED capacity will grow 100% in 2018 (to reach 4.4 million square meters), but demand will only grow 70% (to 2.4 million square meters). IHS says that the high price of flexible OLEDs caused smartphone makers to opt for either rigid (glass-based) OLEDs or LCDs in their 2018 models. IHS estimates that the price gap between a flexible OLED and a rigid OLED on the same 6-Gen line is about 50%.

LG Display published three very nice videos showcasing three new OLED lighting installations. First up is an OLED chandelier that was specifically designed for the presidential suite suite in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.

As you can see in the video above, the Chandelier has a unique design that uses 36 modules each with 4 OLED Panels (for a total of 144 10x10 cm panels). The project managers (TELCS Lighting Design and Consutancy) and the chandelier designer (Joyce Wang Studio) say that only OLED lighting panels provided them with the light quality and design possibilities that they wanted.

UK-based OFTF developer SmartKem announced that it has signed a Letter Of Intent (LOI) with a display maker in Taiwan to develop and mass produce commercial displays using its OTFT technology.

SmartKem did not name this company, but they did say that the company produces both LCD and AMOLED displays, which means it is likely to be either AU Optronics or Innolux. It is not clear whether the Taiwanes display maker will use SmartKem's technology for future OLED or LCD displays (or, most likely, both).

IHS Markit performed a teardown analysis of Apple's iPhone X, saying that the total cost of materials in the 64GB model amount to around $370.

IHS estimates the cost of the OLED display module, including the force touch sensor, is $110. KGI securities estimated the display at $120 a few months ago. The iPhone X has a 5.8" 1125x2436 Samsung-made flexible Super AMOLED display.

Samsung reported its final financial results for Q3 2017 - this was a great quarter for Samsung as revenues reached 62 trillion Won (around $55 billion) and operation profits rose 15% from last quarter to reach 14.5 trillion Won (around $12.8 billion USD). Samsung expects next year earnings to grow mainly from its component business, with the memory market likely to remain favorable.

Samsung Display reported increased revenues, mostly due to strong sales of flexible OLEDs, but earnings declines as average sale price of its LCD displays declined and the investments in new OLED capacity. Specifically regarding its OLED business, SDC increased its sales of flexible OLEDs, but prices of rigid OLED panels declined.

Last week BOE Display held an official ceremony during which it demonstrated its first batch of flexible OLED panels made at its new B7 6-Gen OLED fab in Chengdu. China Daily posted the video you see below showing the panels on display.

At the video you can see a foldable AMOLED prototype, a flexible display in an edge-type design, a design that seems similar to the one used in Apple's iPhone X and finally several curved OLED prototypes.