Tianma, BOE and Visionox report their latest financial results as profits decline, but demand for OLED panels increases
Three display makers in China (BOE, Tianma and Visionox) reported their preliminary financial results for the first half of 2023. It seems as if all companies are facing a sluggish economy and lower demand for displays - but the OLED business is actually seeing increased demand.
We'll start with BOE, that expects an operating profit of around 700-800 million Yuan ($97-110 million USD) in the first half of 2023, a decrease of around 90% from last year. BOE says that it is starting to see demand increasing as the year progresses.
Chinese OLED makers file a motion to dismiss a major SDC OLED patent in the US as the dispute of AMOLED imports to the US continues
Earlier this year, we reported that Samsung filed a request at the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban BOE's aftermarket AMOLED panels in the US, as they infringe on Samsung's OLED patent. Following the request, the ITC started a formal investigation.
According to a new report from China, several OED makers in China (BOE, Tianma, TCL CSoT and Visionox) have joined forces and filed a motion to invalidate one of Samsung's main OLED patents in the US. This is a response to SDC's request to halt BOE's US aftermarket AMOLED panel sales.
DSCC: BOE's market share in flexible smartphone OLED displays rose to 27%
DSCC says that BOE's market share in the flexible (and foldable) smartphone OLED market has risen to 27% in Q1 2023. BOE flexible and foldable OLED panel sales grew 81% in Q1 2023 compared to last year, as the company enjoys growing sales to Apple, Huawei, Oppo, Realme, Vivo and ZTE. BOE is mostly taking market share from Samsung and LG, while Tianma's market share is also on the rise.
DSCC estimates that flagship smartphone shipments grew 17% in the first quarter, with flexible OLED smartphone shipments growing 18% and foldable ones growing 4%.
Tianma starts producing in-cell touch AMOLED displays
Tianma announced that it has successfully commercialized in-cell touch AMOLED displays, and it is now starting to mass produce the first such display to a customer, a well-known smartwatch maker that will ship the product in Q3 2022, globally.
Tianma explains that by adopting the in-cell structure, it has managed to reduce the total screen thickness by 20%, compared to its current on-cell technology. The new AMOLED display is also lighter.
Tianma starts producing OLEDs at its new 6-Gen flexible AMOLED line in Xiamen
China-based Tianma announced that it has started producing flexible AMOLED displays at its 6-Gen production line in Xiamen. This is just the first production runs, it will probably take some time for Tianma to ramp up production.
Total investment in Tianma's new fab (TM18) is estimated at $6.8 billion USD and the monthly capacity will be 48,000 6-Gen substrates. The company says that this is the largest flexible AMOLED production line in China, and it is also the largest ever investment in Xiamen's history.
Tianma extends its long-term material supply and license agreement with UDC
Universal Display announced that Tianma Micro-electronics has extended its long-term OLED material supply and license agreement. UDC will continue to supply Tianma with its phosphorescent OLED materials and technologies.
UDC did not disclose any more details or financial terms. The original agreement between Tianma and UDC was signed in 2016.
Universal Display reports record revenues in Q3 2021
Universal Display reported its financial results for Q3 2021. Revenues were a record $143.6 million, up from $117.1 million in Q3 2020 and net profit was $46.1 million (up from $40.5 million from Q3 2020). The company has about $789 million in cash and equivalents, the it reiterates its full-year 2021 revenue guidance to be between $530 million and $560 million.
Regarding its blue PHOLED R&D effort, UDC says it is making "excellent progress", and the company believes that a commercial blue material is a question of when and not if.
Tianma shows a microLens AMOLED panel with improved power consumption
Tianma demonstrated a new AMOLED display panel at SID Displayweek, that sports a micro-lens array that helps to decrease power consumption by 10-15%.
The so-called MLP panel is 6.2" in size with a 876x2142 resolution (373 PPI) and a brightness of 420 nits. The pixel configuration is, interestingly, YYG - yellow and green sub-pixels, which means that this display uses color filters.
Here is Tianma's CFOT rollable AMOLED display
In March 2021 Tianma unveiled a new OLED display technology, which it refers to as CFOT OLED - a polarizer-free OLED that adopts color-filters instead to remove reflections. The company demonstrated a 8.03" CFOT OLED prototype at SID Displayweek 2021:
Tianma says that a CFOT OLED enables a thinner design, improves the light emittance and also cuts the power consumption by 20%. The 8.03" display offers a resolution of 2000x2544 (403 PPI).
OLED production will grow 94% in Q2 2021, as demand for OLED panels increases
DSCC says that OLED production will grow 94% in the Q2 2021, fueled by strong demand for OLED in smartphones, TVs and other devices - coupled with a recovery from the pandemic. Growth in OLED input area for small & medium displays is expected to grow 68%, while grow in OLED TV input area will grow by 134% over last year.
The chart above shows the total OLED (and mobile LCD) industry capacity. As you can see, flexible OLED capacity is growing - mainly from expansions by CSoT, Tianma and Visionox. There's also growth in rigid OLED capacity - from Everdisplay and JOLED.
