Wearable OLEDs - Introduction and Latest Industry News - Page 17

Microsoft just announced several new devices, including three ones with AMOLED displays. So first up with have the Lumia 950 smartphone, which is the company's first Windows 10 mobile phones. It features a 5.2" WQHD (2560x1440) AMOLED display, hexa-core CPU, 32GB of storage, a microSD slot, a 20mp PureView camera (with 4K video support and optical image stabilization) and a USB Type-C port.

Microsoft also launched the Lumia 950 XL, which offers the same hardware with a larger 5.7" display. The Lumia 950 will launch in November 2015 for $549 and the 950 XL will cost $649.

Samsung's latest smart watch, the Gear S2, is now shipping for $299 (black or silver) or $349 (classic). The Gear S2 is a Tizen-based that sports a 1.2" 360x360 (302 PPI) circular Super AMOLED display.

Other features include a dual-core 1 Ghz CPU, 4GB of internal memory, several sensor and a 250 mAh battery (300 mAh on the 3G model). The Gear S2 is offered in two models, the regular and the "classic" which has a black finish and is smaller and lighter.

Back in 2014, Microsoft launched their first smartband, simply called the Band, with an LCD display. The company is now reportedly aiming to launch the Band 2 on October 6th, and according to a leaked photo it looks like it might be using a curved display:

The Band 2 looks very similar to Samsung's Gear Fit which was launched in 2014. The Fit had a flexible OLED - a curved 1.84" (432x128) Super AMOLED.

Huawei's Watch, the company's first smart watch, is set to ship on September 17, for $349 to $799 (depends on the model). The Android Wear device sports a 1.4" 400x400 (286 PPI) circular AMOLED display. It features a heart rate monitor and fitness tracking, six-axis motion sensor and a barometric sensor.

We do not know yet the price of the Watch. The AMOLED display could be made by either AU Optronics,Everdisplay or Samsung Display. The most likely supplier is AU Optronics.

According to reports, Huawei will start shipping its Android Wear Watch next month. The company's first smart watch sports a 1.4" 400x400 (286 PPI) circular AMOLED display, a heart rate monitor and fitness tracking, six-axis motion sensor and a barometric sensor.

We do not know yet the price of the Watch. The AMOLED display could be made by either AU Optronics, Everdisplay or Samsung Display. The most likely supplier is AU Optronics.

Taiwan-based PMOLED maker Wisechip says that the company is the world's second largest PMOLED maker, and is now enjoying the surge in the PMOLED wearable market - due to its three-year long focus on that market.

Wisechip quotes IHS DisplaySearch that sees the PMOLED market growing from 53.5 million units ($368 million in sales) to over 70 million units (and almost $450 million in sales) in 2015. The volume growth will continue until 2018, while revenues will reach a peak in 2016 and then decline (due to lower average panel costs, evidently). Most of the growth will come from wearable devices and smart home applications.

AU Optronics is focused on OLEDs for the wearable market, and is already producing 1.63" panels. AUO is also developing 1.4" and 1.3" circular AMOLEDs, and today the company demonstrated three OLEDs for the wearable market, including a new 1.5" square AMOLED (which you can see below, together with the 1.4" circular and the 1.63" square one).

AUO is also producing 4.3", 5" and 5.5" AMOLED displays for mobile phones. Please contact us if you need help with finding a supplier for these new AMOLED displays.

US-based Polyera was established in 2005 to develop OTFT-based flexible display backplanes - suitable for OLEDs and E Ink displays. The company already demonstrated a flexible OLED based on their backplanes, and now they announced their first product, the Wove Band smartband device.

We do not have any technical details, but this looks to be an interesting device, and hopefully they will follow-up with a similar OLED-based device. Polyera will start shipping samples in December to developers and artists, and the commercial launch is planned for mid-2016.

LG Display hosted a press conference in its Paju complex to celebrate the company's 20th anniversary. The company announced it will shift its investment focus to OLED displays - and will invest 10 trillion Won (about $8.5 billion) in the next three years to expand OLED production.

LG Display plans to develop OLED panels to be used in televisions, wearable devices, automobiles and foldable devices. LG Display cites DisplaySearch saying that the OLED market will grow to $28.3 billion by 2022.

IDTechEx Research have recently revised its forecast for OLED displays - saying that glass-based OLEDs are not growing as fast as they expected (mostly because of Samsung's disappointing high-end AMOLED mobile phone sales) while the company is more optimistic regarding the flexible OLED market.

IDTechEx sees the glass-based AMOLED display market reaching $22.7 billion in 2022. The company's earlier estimate was $28.2 billion in the same year. The flexible OLED market will grow from $1.5 billion in 2015 to almost $3 billion in 2016 and over $16 billion in 2020. Most of those panels will be used in mobile phones. Note that the chart above does not include all flexible OLED applications (for example automotive applications).