OLED displays find success in mobile phones with Q2’09 revenue at $192mn

AUSTIN, USA: In its latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report, DisplaySearch reported that worldwide OLED revenue has set a new record, with $192 million in revenue for Q2’09, up 32 percent Q/Q and 22 percent Y/Y.

DisplaySearch forecasts the total OLED display market will grow to $6.2 billion by 2016 from $0.6 billion in 2008, with a CAGR of 33 percent. Mobile phone main displays will be the leading application with revenues of about $3 billion in 2016; OLED TV will be the second largest application, with revenues of about $2 billion in 2016.

Fig. 1: OLED Display Revenue ForecastSource:DisplaySearch Q3’09 Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report.

AMOLED shipments grew due to strong mobile phone main display shipments. This is due to promotion of AMOLED mobile phones by Samsung Electronics, Nokia and Sony Ericsson in the first half of 2009. More than 15 mobile phone models with AMOLED main displays were released in 2009.

PMOLED maintained its unit shipment leadership in the OLED display market. After a weak Q1’09, PMOLED shipments stabilized in Q2’09 due to growth in mobile phone sub-display applications.

Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) had a strong Q2’09, and as a result, it maintained the #1 position in shipment with 38 percent market share, followed by RiTdisplay at #2.

“AMOLED displays have become an important differentiating feature for high end electronic products,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, PhD, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch.

“This technology is not only used for mobile phone main displays, but has also penetrated the market for portable media players, digital still cameras and other applications. There will be about 20 new or upgraded AMOLED production lines installed or upgraded worldwide in the next three years,” Colegrove added.

OLED manufacturers are planning to make TV panels larger than 11” in 2009. LG Display is mass-producing small-size AMOLED, and has announced that it will mass-produce 15” AMOLED panels for TV application at the end of 2009. LG Electronics will commercialize 15” OLED TV sets for the holiday season, while Sony’s 20”+ OLED TV announced in 2008 will not reach the market in 2009.

With technology improvements, DisplaySearch forecasts AMOLED will enter more medium- and large-size applications (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: AMOLED Display RoadmapSource:DisplaySearch Q3’09 Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report.

Notebooks are an attractive area starting in mid 2010, with mini-notes (netbooks) expected to be in production by end of 2010. 20-29” OLED TVs will enter market by the end of 2010, with 30” and larger TVs forecast to enter the market in late 2011.

Plextronics, Novaled to develop organic lighting technology

PITTSBURGH, USA & DRESDEN, GERMANY: Novaled AG, a leader in energy saving and long living OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), and Plextronics, Inc., an international company that specializes in conductive organic inks for printed lighting, solar and other electronics, announced that they have agreed to jointly develop doped and solution processed organic materials for OLED applications.

OLED technology is expected to become a major ingredient of flat displays and drive a new era lighting innovation with its flexible design and energy efficiency advantages.

The collaboration agreement specifies that the companies will combine their respective technologies to develop an advanced solution processible Hole Injection Layer (HIL) technology for OLEDs.

By leveraging Plextronics’ organic conductive ink technology and Novaled’s organic dopant technology, the companies will target these advanced HIL materials for use with solution processed polymer and small molecule emitters, as well as with vacuum deposited small molecule emitters.

Novaled and Plextronics aim to offer a solution processed HIL with the same performance as a Novaled doped small molecule HIL deposited in a vacuum process. The Novaled doped HIL is part of the Novaled PIN OLED technology, which has demonstrated some of the highest power efficiency together with a long lifetime.

Plextronics and Novaled will co-market Plexcore OC inks that incorporate Novaled dopant materials.

“Novaled is well-known for its power efficient OLED technology and is considered to be a world leading supplier of doping material,” says Andrew Hannah, President and CEO of Plextronics. “We expect that the combination of Plextronics’ conductive ink for OLED -- Plexcore OC -- and Novaled’s doping technologies will enable the high performance printing of OLED devices.”

“Plextronics is an international leader in organic ink”, adds Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled. “It is Novaled’s strategy to partner with key industry players, like Plextronics, in order to enlarge our business offering for customers. Together with Plextronics, we are able to introduce the Novaled PIN OLED technology to the world of printed electronics.”

OLED shipments for primary cell-phone displays to rise eightfold by 2015

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Triggered by the introduction this year of a wave of cell phones equipped with main displays using Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode (AM-OLED) technology, the global market for such screens is set to explode in the coming years, according to iSuppli Corp.

Shipments of OLED displays for the main screens of cell phones are expected to rise by a factor of eight from 2009 to 2015. Global shipments of OLED main cell phone displays will rise to 178 million units in 2015, up from 22.2 million in 2009.

The figure presents iSuppli’s forecast of global shipments of OLED displays for cell-phone main displays.

iSuppli: Global Shipment Forecast of OLED Displays for Use as Main Displays in Mobile Handsets (Thousands of Units)Source: iSuppli, Sept. 2009

“AM-OLEDs deliver superior-quality images compared to conventional LCDs, especially in terms of contrast and response times,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst, small/medium displays, for iSuppli.

“They also consume less power, extending battery life. With smart phones increasingly being used by consumers as their primary Internet-access devices, the ubiquity and extended operation times yielded by AM-OLEDs make them an attractive choice for such cell phones.”

Despite this growth, OLEDs will still only account for a small percentage of total main mobile-handset displays in the coming years, rising to 6 percent of total unit shipments in 2013, up from 2 percent in 2009. The only factors limiting greater penetration is the fact that the AM- OLED market has only a couple of suppliers and a limited number of factories.

Nokia’s new N85 represents the new breed of handsets with relatively large OLED primary displays arriving in the market. The N85 sports a 2.6-inch diagonal AM-OLED with a pixel format of 240 by 320. An iSuppli teardown of the N85 estimates the cost of the AM-OLED at $7.05, compared to $6.50 for an LCD of equivalent size and resolution.

Other new phones equipped with AM-OLED main displays include Samsung’s Impression and i8000 Omnia II.

While some cell phones with OLEDs have been introduced in the past, Jakhanwal said these mainly have taken the form of displays employing Passive-Matrix (PM-OLED) technology and working as secondary screens, due to the inherent size and resolution limitations of PM-OLED displays.

Pixel formats of QVGA, wQVGA and higher can be achieved in AM-OLEDs, making them suitable for larger main displays in mobile phones, Jakhanwal added, and recent price reductions as well as yield improvements have made AM-OLEDs economical in this application.

Because of this, main cell phone displays will surpass secondary screens as the highest-volume application for OLEDs starting in 2010, and will maintain their lead through 2015.

Compared to the overall market dominated by LCD technology, OLEDs for main cell-phone displays represent an attractive growth opportunity. Global unit shipments of OLEDs for the main displays of cell phones will rise at a 41.4 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2015, compared to 8 percent for 2009 to 2013 for all types of displays for handsets.

In addition to their use in smartphones, AM-OLEDs can find strong acceptance as 2.2-inch to 2.6-inch QVGA main displays for conventional cell phones, especially if volumes and prices comparable to LCDs can be obtained.

And beyond the other allures offered by OLED, the technology is more environmentally sustainable compared to that of conventional LCDs.

“OLEDs offer a low-power-consumption solution to flat-panel displays, especially when compared to LCDs, without compromising picture quality,” Jakhanwal noted. “OLEDs also have fewer sub-components and contain no mercury or other heavy metals that require special handling, making them easier to recycle.”

Novaled's large area OLED device fulfills lighting specs

DRESDEN, GERMANY: Novaled developed a 15x15 cm white OLED device with a thickness of less than 2 mm. Die Struktur der OLED stack allows for a natural and warm white light performing a very high color rendering index (CRI) of 90.

The perception of this light is similar to sunlight or what is delivered by incandescent bulbs. The achieved color coordinates of (0.44, 0.41) are inside the US Department of Energy (DoE) quadrangles at Illuminant A and even meet the more restrictive 7step MacAdams Ellispis around Illuminant A.

With this large area flat light element OLEDs will enable a pleasant illumination of the room together with revolutionary design. By reaching 30 lm/W on a 15x15 cm area Novaled achieved an intermediate step in line with the European project OLED100.

The specific electrode structure Novaled developed and now commercializes under the name ‘liternity’ increases the device lifetime. Using the liternity technology the 15x15 OLED device can reach a lifetime of 20,000 h. Liternity OLEDs maintain the appearance of a homogeneously lighted-up surface over the entire life span of the OLED.

Long lifetimes will be crucial to reduce maintenance cycles for commercial applications. The liternity technology will allow the upscaling towards very large OLED panel sizes.

“Novaled is using its leadership on power efficiency and long lifetime to pave the way for large and thin lighting products which the market is expecting from OLED,” says Gildas Sorin, CEO of Novaled AG.

“The performance of this 15x15 OLED element perfectly illustrates the potential of both: Novaled PIN OLED and liternity technology. It reflects as well our company is dealing with the market requests and various aspects of a lighting product going beyond the OLED stack and materials.“

Global OLED revenues to reach $7.1 billion by 2016

AUSTIN, USA: In its latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report, DisplaySearch forecasts the total OLED display market will grow to $7.1 billion by 2016, from $0.6 billion in 2008, with a CAGR of 36 percent.

DisplaySearch also reported that in Q1’09 worldwide active matrix (AM) OLED revenue surpassed passive matrix (PM) OLED for the first time. AMOLED revenue is increasing strongly due to strong mobile phone main display shipments, as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Ericsson heavily promoted AMOLED mobile phones in first half of 2009. More than 10 mobile phone models with AMOLED main displays have been released in 2009.

PMOLED has been the revenue leader in the OLED display market, driven by high unit shipments. However, in Q1'09, PMOLED shipments were down significantly due to weakness in MP3 and mobile phone sub-display applications.

“AMOLED displays have become an important differentiating feature for high end electronic products,” noted Jennifer Colegrove, PhD, Director of Display Technologies at DisplaySearch.

“As we forecasted, AMOLED revenue surpassed PMOLED revenue in Q1’09, and AMOLED is likely to pass PMOLEDs in terms of unit shipments in 2010. There will be about 20 new or upgraded AMOLED production lines installed or upgraded worldwide in the next three years,” Colegrove added.

Fig. 1: OLED Display Revenue ForecastSource: DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report

The company also reported that worldwide OLED display revenue in Q1’09 was $143 million, down 8 percent Q/Q. AMOLED revenues were up 17 percent Q/Q.

Samsung Mobile Display (SMD), created from Samsung SDI’s OLED business and Samsung Electronics’ mobile display business, started operation in January 2009. SMD had a strong Q1’09, and as a result, it kept the #1 position in shipments with 37 percent market share, followed by RiTdisplay at #2.

OLED manufacturers are planning to make TV panels larger than 11” in 2009; LG Display is mass-producing small-size AMOLED currently, and has announced it will mass-produce 15” AMOLED panel for TV application at the end of 2009. LG Electronics announced that it will commercialize 15” OLED TV for the holiday season (Table 1).

Table 1: AMOLED TVs Planned for the 2009-2010 Holiday SeasonSource: DisplaySearch

Global next-gen display market worth $16.9 billion by 2014

WILMINGTON, USA: According to a new market research report, Global Next-Generation Display Market (2009-2014), published by MarketsandMarkets, the total global next-generation display market is expected to be worth $16.9 billion by 2014, out of which the Asia market will account for nearly 42 percent of the total revenues,

The global market is expected to record a CAGR of 20 percent from 2009 to 2014.

Environmental concerns are driving the need for greener and low-power-consuming display systems. Efficient and advanced display systems with enhanced image quality and lower power consumption is the need of the hour.

In the next-generation display market, 2D one sided display market is the largest segment; and is expected to reach $8.4 billion by 2014 at a CAGR of 11.5 percent.

The high market size of 2D one sided display is mainly due to its low power consumption and applicability in wide range of applications such as industrial, advertisement and public information, entertainment and consumer electronics. The touch screen display market is estimated to be $2.3 billion in 2014.

Low labor cost and early initiatives have made Asia the dominant player in the next-generation display market. In 2009, the market share is estimated to be 52 percent with a size of $3.7 billion.

Furthermore, Asia's large LED and OLED supplier-base also helps in making the manufacturing of these displays cost effective.

Europe is expected to have the second-highest market for next-generation displays. However, large consumer base of next-generation display devices in the US and Europe makes them the most attractive market for display components and device manufacturers.

FDC, Universal Display advance flexible OLEDs closer to mass market

TEMPE, USA: The Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University and Universal Display Corp. introduced the first a-Si:H active matrix flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display to be manufactured directly on DuPont Teijin’s polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate.

Implementing Universal Display's phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (PHOLED) technology and materials and the FDC’s proprietary bond-debond manufacturing technology, the 4.1-inch monochrome quarter video graphics array (QVGA) display represents a significant milestone towards achieving a manufacturable solution for flexible OLEDs.

Flexible OLEDs are designed to target a number of military and commercial applications that require more rugged displays. With Universal Display’s PHOLED technology and materials, the new display achieves the same brightness as traditional displays with extremely low power consumption. Additional advantages of the technology include lower operating temperature due to less heat being generated, easier to drive, longer battery life, and more stable transistors.

“Being a founding member of the Flexible Display Center, Universal Display is pleased to see the significant progress enabled by our co-operation,” said Mike Hack, Vice President of Strategic Product Development at Universal Display. “Together, the FDC and Universal Display have demonstrated technology paths which will accelerate the introduction of exciting new flexible OLED displays on plastic substrates.”

“This development of flexible AMOLED technology gives the industry a solid starting point towards manufacturing, mass production and commercialization of flexible OLEDs,” said Shawn O’Rourke, director of engineering for the FDC. “The fact that we have achieved a functional flexible OLED manufactured directly on plastic using the Center’s manufacturing process represents a significant achievement, and continued developments over the next few years will lead to full color, full motion video flexible displays.”

The flexible backplane display was manufactured at the Flexible Display Center utilizing a 180°C thin film transistor process. The FDC’s facility implements traditional flat panel and semiconductor tools and processes to achieve flexible displays, enabled by its proprietary bond-debond technology to secure the plastic substrate to a rigid carrier during manufacture.

The integration of Universal Display’s PHOLED frontplane delivers a key enabling technology for the flexible OLED. The PHOLED materials allow the OLED to convert up to 100 percent of the electrical energy into light, as opposed to traditional fluorescent OLEDs which convert only 25 percent, providing up to four times more energy efficiency. Universal Display integrated the FDC backplane designed for its PHOLED frontplane to produce the display.

The FDC and Universal Display will present a paper discussing the active matrix flexible OLED on Friday June 5th in session 65.4 at SID 2009. Additionally, the FDC will demonstrate this device and other flexible display technologies in booth # 523 at the show. Universal Display, located at booth #676 at the show, and DuPont Teijin are members of the Flexible Display Center.