In August 2011 Samsung signed a long-term license agreement with Universal Display which allowed Samsung to acquire and use UDC's patented phosphorescent OLED materials. That important agreement (which generated hundreds of millions in revenues for UDC over the years) expired on December 31, 2017.
UDC announced yesterday that it is in on-going discussions regarding a formal long-term extension of these agreements (the patent license agreement and the OLED material purchase agreement). UDC expects SDC to continue buying materials during these discussions. No time frame has been established for the completion of these discussions.
It will be very interesting to see how these negotiating ends. One thing for sure: SDC will continue to produce OLED displays and will continue to use phosphorescent materials. But some of UDC's basic OLED patents have expired, and SDC is probably aiming to reduce its license payments to UDC. In addition SDC is also looking at other technologies such as TADF which may replace PHOLEDs in the future.
