OLED Tablets - Introduction and Latest Industry News - Page 18

A new report from Korea suggests that Samsung will use IPS-LCD displays in some Note 3 models. The Korean company aims to have about 10% of the Note 3 phones use LCD displays. The rest will use Super AMOLED displays. Apparently Samsung will buy those LCD displays from Sharp (Samsung owns about 3% of the troubled display maker following a recent investment).

Galaxy Note II

The main reason the report gives for this decision is that Samsung may have an AMOLED supply issue. Earlier this month DisplaySearch estimated that AMOLED supply/demand ratio will fall to 1% in Q4 2013 - basically saying that supply will be very tight with a good chance shortages. So perhaps Samsung is working on a backup plan by designing models with LCDs instead of AMOLEDs.

Back in February we heard reports that Samsung Display is considering to construct a 6.5-Gen (1500x1800 mm) LTPS AMOLED fab. Now new reports from Korea say that Samsung indeed decided to go ahead with this new line, which is scheduled to begin operation towards the end of 2013. The monthly production capacity will be somewhere between 20,000 to 40,000 substrates.

Samsung's investment in the new line will be around 1.7 trillion Won ($1.5 billion USD), and they will begin ordering equipment in Q3 2013. The new line will produce panels for OLED TVs and mobile devices - we assume not just for mobile phones but also for tablets and perhaps even laptops. This will be the world's largest LTPS line - and an interesting and adventurous undertaking by Samsung.

The OLED Association posted an interesting article today in which they say that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 3 phone (phablet?) will use a YOUM display (a plastic-based unbreakable flexible OLED). Samsung will unveil the new phone at IFA 2013 (September) and will launch it in Q4 2013.

Galaxy Note II

Samsung YOUM displays use a plastic (Polyimide) substrate, an LTPS backplane, direct-emission RGB patterned OLED sub pixels and thin-film encapsulation (using Vitex's multi-layer technology). It's not known yet what the size and resolution of this particular display, but the OLED-A estimates it will be at least 5.9" in size, but probably will not achieve Full-HD resolution. The Note 3 will also not use a curved display.

DisplaySearch analyst Hiroshi Hayase posted about Samsung Display becoming the world's largest small/medium display maker. In his post, he notes that the average price for a 4.3" qHD (960x540) LCD was under $23, while a similar AMOLED costs over $33. A 4.8" HD AMOLED costs over $50 (a 4.7" HD LCD is only $36).

According to iSuppli, the GS4's 5" Full-HD Super AMOLED display costs $75., and the 4.8" 128-x720 AMOLED on the GS3 costs $65. These estimates include the touch panel though (embedded in the Super AMOLED displays).

After SamMobile mishap with the GS4-LCD-rumor, I didn't think I'll post on yet another of their rumors, but as always happens, many web sites picked up their latest one so I'm going to post as well. This time the blog reports that Samsung is working on a high-end tablet device (that will be called the Galaxy Tab 3 Plus). This tablet will feature a large (10.1" or 11.6", apparently Samsung did not decide yet) Full-HD Super AMOLED display.

SamMobile says that they want to go with a Super AMOLED because many Galaxy Tab 7.7 users still believe it's the best tablet on the market because of the display. They say the company hopes to unveil the new tablet at the IFA 2013 exhibition (September 23), together with the Note 3.

A couple of weeks ago SamMobile reported that according to their sources, the S4 will use an LCD not an AMOLED display. A week later they posted that the S4 will actually use an OLED. Samsung will announce the S4 tomorrow and we'll know for certain, but in the meanwhile the same blog now reports that the Note 3 may use an LCD, according to their sources.

I don't know whether we should regard those SamMobile reports as serious, but they do still create a hype and a lot of sites re-post these articles - so I wanted to post on it as well. According to the new rumor, an insider from Samsung says that the company is still in internal discussions regarding the upcoming display. If they choose an LCD, they might go with the latest ones from Sharp.

Samsung launched the Note II phone/tablet in November 2012, and already rumors are starting to circulate about a successor. According to the Korea Times, the Note 3 will sport a 5.9" AMOLED display - larger than the 5.5" one used on in the Note 2 (HD Super AMOLED 1280x720, non-Pentile).

The Note II display uses an RGB matrix in a unique arrangement with a pixel density of 267 PPI. It's highly likely that the Note 3 display will offer Full-HD resolution.

According to new rumors, Samsung is set to announce a new dual-AMOLED device at MWC (February 25). The "Samsung Galaxy Q" will feature two Full-HD Super AMOLED panels, a dual-core 1.7GHz Exynos 5250 CUP, 2GB of RAM, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera and Android 4.2.1.

We don't know much else. If this is actually true, it can be a device with two rigid panels (probably the 4.99" ones we've seen at CES?) or it could be using two flexible OLED panels in some cool configuration - maybe akin to the prototype unveiled at CES (see above). Samsung officially launched their YOUM flexible OLED displays last month, but I'm not sure if we can expect such a device so soon.

According to industry insiders, Samsung is considering to invest in a 6.5-Gen (1500x1800 mm) AMOLED fab to produce tablet and laptop OLED displays. The company is currently producing AMOLED displays in a 5.5-Gen (1300x1500 mm) fab, but this is geared mostly for small sized panels (up to 5" in size or so), and their upcoming 8-Gen (2200x2500 mm) fab will make larger panels for OLED TV applications, and the pilot line yields are too low for medium panels.

According to our source, Samsung thinks that the market is now ready for medium sized OLED panels. If this is true, then indeed they need to have an AMOLED fab that's somewhere between the 5.5-Gen and the 8-Gen ones.

DisplaySearch says that AMOLED displays have captured 6% of the small/medium display market in 2012 (this means displays that are 9" in size and smaller). They say that in 2015 penetration will more than double to 13%.

In 2012 total OLED shipments (which include PMOLED and AMOLED panels) will reach 191 million units, or 8.4% of the total small/medium display category. Total OLED shipments almost doubled from 2010, as can be seen from the chart below: