Competing technologies - Page 12

n-tech Research released a new Micro-LED market report in which they estimate that the market will grow from $2.7 billion in 2019 to over $70 billion in 2027. The markets for Micro-LED displays, according to n-Tech, will include wearables, near-eye displays, HUDs, projection displays and extra large area displays.

All of these applications will benefit from the small size, low weight, high brightness and high resolution of Micro-LED displays. Extra large-area displays will benefit from the linear scalability of Micro-LED displays.

More and more reports suggest that Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup (to be introduced in September 2018) will include two OLED models and one LCD models. A few days ago it the Nikkei Asian Review said that Apple's 2018 OLED iPhone launch orders will be 20% lower compared to 2017, amounting to 80 million panels.

Now the Korean site The Bell says that Apple ordered 45 million 6.5" OLED panels from SDC for the iPhone Xs Plus and only 25 million for the smaller 5.84" iPhone Xs - to a total of 70 million panels. For the lower-end LCD model, Apple ordered only 30 million panels from Japan Display.

During a presentation at SID Displayweek 2018, Coherent showed a nice chart that summarizes the performance difference between LCDs, OLEDs and Micro-LED displays.

Micro-LEDs have many advantages - including much higher efficiencies and brightness, when compared to both LCDs and OLEDs. The main challenges with Micro-LED is the high costs in the production processes currently used, but many believe that Micro-LED displays will find commercial success in TVs, VR, microdisplays and wearable devices.

Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone X is the company's first OLED Phone - with a 5.8" 1125x2436 (458 PPI) flexible Super AMOLED display that covers almost the entire front of the phone. The iPhone-X is difficult to repair and Apple charges $279 if your screen brakes outside of the warranty.

It is now reported that some companies in China are offering replacement screens for the iPhone X directly via eBay and other online retailers (note: affiliate link to eBay). Most of these screens cost more than the $279 Apple charges - and some of them are actually LCD displays and not OLEDs. These displays are thicker than the original, run hotter and also drain the battery faster. Some of these display also feature some serious defects...

Only four months after LG installed 69 OLED TVs at Seoul's Incheon Airport it was reported that the TVs suffer serious permanent image-retention, or burn-in. ZDNet now reports that LG replaced the problematic OLED TVs at the airport's Korean Air Miler Club Lounge with LCDs.

The report suggests that LG was not sure it could solve the burn-in issues with this particular display, and so opted for an LCD. LG denies that burn-in is a serious issues and says the TVs's lifetime are over 30,000 hours.

Apple started adopting OLEDs in the 2017 iPhone X, and it is expected that it will introduce one or two new OLED modules in its iPhone lineup in 2018 (which will likely include a total of 3 phone models).

A new report from Korea's ETNews suggests that Apple decided to exclusively use OLED displays for all of its iPhone models in 2019. As OLEDs provide a better image quality, and are also thinner, lighter, flexible and more efficient than LCDs, it is only a matter of time until all of Apple's iPhones and mobile device make the switch to OLEDs.

LG Electronics introduced its V30 smartphone in August 2017, the first LG phone in a long time that uses an OLED display (a 6-inch curved flexible 1440x2280 LGD pOLED). It was assumed that LG will start adopting OLEDs in more of its smartphones going forward, but LG's latest G7 ThinQ uses an LCD and not an OLED.

LG says that it will only use OLED displays in its V series of "innovative" smartphones - the rest of LG's smartphone will continue to use LCDs. It may be that LGD does not simply have the capacity for more OLED smartphone displays - especially if it aims to supply Apple in 2018.

FlexEnable announced that Novares, a plastic automotive solutions provider, invested €5 million in the company. This is a strategic investment by Novares that aims to bring FlexEnable's flexible organic LCD (OLCD) to automotive interiors.

Interestingly the press release does not discuss OLEDs at all, only OLCDs which is described as a low-cost, high-reliability, conformable and shapeable display technology. FlexEnable started commercializing its OLCD technology together with Truly Semiconductors in 2017. OLCD production is expected to begin by the end of 2018, and Novares already demonstrated a demo Car that features OLCD displays

In February it was reported that Samsung is developing a hybrid Quantum-Dots OLED technology for its future TVs. This report was soon denied by Samsung's Visual Display Business VP, Han Jong-hee, who said that Samsung is sticking to its two-track strategy for premium TVs, namely QD-LCDs and Micro-LEDs.

Samsung OLED TV (2013)

Today Samsung's Han Jong-hee again says that Samsung has no plans to produce an OLED TV any time soon - but he does confirm that the company is researching a way to combine QDs with OLEDs. According to our information, Samsung's main R&D initiative use blue OLED emitters and blue light to white light conversion using quantum-dots, combined with color filters (QDCFs) to add red and green colors.

Bloomberg posted an interesting article, saying that Apple is making good progress in its Micro-LED development project, and has managed to produce promising display samples. Apple is seeking to use Micro-LED displays in future wearable products - and eventually use Micro-LEDs in smartphones and maybe VR HMDs as well.

Apple display facility, Santa Clara, CA

Apple is not likely to become a MicroLED producer, but it does seek to control the production process entirely - and so become the first (and only) company to be able to adopt these displays.