According to Japan Economic Newswire, Sharp decided to launch a three-year project to develop OLED mass production technologies. Sharp's mass production technology will be ready by 2016 and then the company will decide whether they will build their own OLED fab or outsource the production to other makers or even license or sell the technology. It's not clear whether Sharp aims to make OLEDs for mobile displays, flexible OLEDs or OLED TV panels.
According to JEN Sharp will release its 3-year business plan on May 14, and then we'll know whether the OLED project is indeed included in their plan. The report says that Sharp plans to use "unique materials" that will make "clearer OLED images". Perhaps they mean SEL's and Sharp's new crystal structure innovation, used in the company's latest OLED prototypes.
This is a major change for Sharp, which since 2009 made it clear that they are not going to develop OLED panels. The company did show two oxide-TFT (IGZO) based OLED panel prototypes at SID 2012 (a WRGB 13.5" QFHD 326 ppi panel and a 3.4" 540x960 flexible panel), but they haven't made any public commitment to OLEDs yet. This is great news for the OLED industry as Sharp has always been a major OLED proponent.
