January 2005

The EU launched a new OLED lighting product (as part of the 6th framework) called OLLA. This is an integrated R&D project to advance OLED technologies with a goal to demonstrate (in 2008) high-brightness white OLED light tiles for use in general lighting applications, with a long lifetime and high energy efficiency.

The OLLA consortium consists of 24 partners from 8 European countries, lead by Philips.

One Stop Displays say that early Q1 2005 design wins will make Q1 business it's highest yet. OSD sales increased 15% over expectations.

The company expects industry growth in automotive audio to boost sales again before the end of the year. The company says that OLED technology improvements are in route to exceed most automotive requirements within typical automotive design cycles.

Leadis reported their Q4 2004 results today. Net sales were $33.3 million. STN sales increased 16% compared to the previous quarter, but OLED sales (PMOLED display drivers) declined 64%.

Samsung SDI said recently that they intend to double its PMOLED capacity this year, aiming to sell 28 million OLED panels in 2005 (up from 14 million in 2004). Samsung is upbeat on PMOLED panels as a result of demand from high-end mobile phone makers.

Samsung expects OLED revenue to reach $615 million in 2005 and $1.1 billion in 2006. These numbers originate from iSuppli.

Researchers from Kyoto University together with Mitsubishi Chemical, Pioneer, and Rohm have developed a new bendable OLED display panel.

We do not have a photo of this display, but they did present a monochrome (blue) business card-sized prototype. The researchers say that their technology can be adapted to full-color displays.

Univision says that their 2005 revenues will reach NT$2.2 billion ($69 million USD) - over five times its 2004 revenues of NT$400 million ($12.5 million). The main demand (70%) for their PMOLED panels are MP3 players. Last year over 80% of their sales went to mobile phones.

Univision added a second production line, and will begin to produce full-color PMOLEDs in Q2 2015. By the end of 2015 they will install a third line.

Orion Electric hopes to reach sales of 30 billion Won ($29 million) in 2005 from PMOLED panels. The company recently started shipping new 65K-color panels to MP3 makers.

Towards the end of 2005 Orion will add a new production line that will double the company's capacity to two million panels.

Articus announced it will merge with Canada's Nova-Plasma (NPI), a provider of High-Barrier and Ultra-High Barrier ("UHB") coatings and processes to the flap panel display industry.

Articus says that NPI's patented technology will enable the full-scale deployment of OLED / PLED displays by ensuring device protection from oxygen and water vapor. This technology suits flexible OLED panels. The merged company is seeking investment and strategic relationships, needed to "take leading position" in UHB material market.

Veeco introduced the WykoNT4800, a profiler intended for applications in OLED displays, radio frequency identification tags (RFID), biosensors and other flexible circuit devices. The new profiler combines high-speed, high-resolution optical profiling with large format staging and is intended for critical R&D and production metrology applications, such as surface shape and texture measurement.

Daewoo Electronics says that OLED technology is set to become one of their core businesses. The company will invest $36 million in the next 2 years. They have already finished their first pilot production line.

Daewoo also develop their own propitiatory technologies: new isolation technology, Thin film protection layer and Plasma Switched OLED (PSOLED).