OLED production - Page 9

In 2019, following tensions between Japan and Korea, Japan's government decided to restrict some material exports to South Korea, including fluorinated polyimide, resist and high-purity hydrogen fluoride, materials required for OLED production.

The relations between the two countries are warming up now, and a few days ago the Japanese government decided to lift those restrictions, and the sale of these materials to Korean companies are now possible.

In early 2022, Shiftall (a Panasonic Subsidiary) launched the MeganeX lightweight VR glasses based on dual 1.3" 120Hz 2560x2560 dual-stack OLED microdisplays produced by Kopin and LakeSide Optoelectronics.

Panasonic aimed to start shipping the MeganeX in early 2022, but it was delayed and now it plans to ship it by March 2023 (which will mean that in total it took around 6 years of development). Panasonic further says that as Kopin's production (at Lakeside) suffers from very low yields, it had to increase the price of the display and so the cost of the VR headset increased from 100,000 Yen (around $750) to 250,000 Yen (almost $2,000).

According to DSCC, display fab utilization started to decline in Q2 2022, and this continued - and bottomed out towards the end of 2022. The industry is starting to recover, but the recovery is slower than expected before.

This is true for both LCD and OLED displays, as you can see in the graph above.

According to reports from Vietnam, BOE decided to invest $400 million to build two new display factories, one of which will be used to produce OLED display modules. The OLED module fab has an estimated cost of $250 million. The module plant will begin operation by 2025.

According to the report, BOE plans to produce smartphone OLED modules at the new fab.

Samsung announced that it is set to start producing several new QD-OLED panels and products in 2023. In addition to the current 34-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch panels, it will also offer a 49-inch 240Hz ultra-wide 5120x1440 QD-OLED for gaming monitors, and a 77-inch TV panel.

Samsung will adopt the new 49-inch ultra-wide QD-OLED panel in its upcoming Odyssey OLED G9 monitor. We already knew Samsung has finished developing this panel back in November when MSI unveiled their own QD-OLED monitor project. The 77-inch panel was also unveiled before.

LG Display announced that it is starting to produce 27" and 45" 240Hz WOLED panels, optimized for gaming applications. The 45" panel is an ultra-wide 3440x1440 (WQHD) curved one.

LG Electronics already unveiled monitors based on these panels last month, the Ultragear 27GR95QE-B and 45GR95QE. LGE did not say when these monitors will ship, but it will likely happen soon if LGD is already producing the panels. Other companies, including Asus and Corsair have also developed monitors based on these panels.

In the past year or so, much have been said about Samsung's plans to build a 8-Gen OLED IT production line, as the company wants to expand its capacity for monitors, laptops and tablet OLED displays.

Samsung plan for a full-cut 8-Gen line

As this is the first such production line, SDC had two ongoing R&D projects: one with Ulvac, that used full-cut vertical OLED deposition, and another with Canon Tokki, that used half-cut horizontal deposition. According to the latest reports from Korea, SDC decided to prioritize the Canon Tokki half-cut project, as the technology is more mature and is more likely to finish as per Apple's roadmap.

Earlier in 2022, Samsung Display confirmed it is developing OLED microdisplays. Samsung admitted it is still at an early stage of development, and it said it will start building its first line (with likely limited capacity) in 2023. By 2024 it will mass produce displays, and in 2025 it will expand capacity so that by 2026 it will achieve full commercialization.

Today we hear new reports from Korea that shed some more light on Samsung's OLED microdisplay fab status. The company has started to order equipment (from SFA Engineering and AP Systems, it seems) for a 300 mm pilot line that will be located at Samsung's existing A2 fab in Asan, Korea.

In May 2022, Visionox announced plans to build a 11 billion Yuan ($1.6 billion USD) flexible and foldable OLED module production line, in Hefei. Yesterday the company signed the formal agreement with the local government and kickstarted the project.

According to reports from China, the new factory will have a yearly capacity of around 26 million modules in sizes ranging from 6-inch to 12-inch, although the company says it will also produce wearable OLED display modules at this fab, so there will be smaller sizes as well.