Foldable OLED shipments will expand to 61 million units in 2027, and the UTG market will also grow more than three times

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

According to the ‘2023 OLED Components and Materials Report’ recently published by UBI Research (www.ubiresearch.com), a company specializing in OLED market research, In 2023, foldable OLED shipments are expected to record 22 million units, and expand to 61 million units in 2027 at an average annual growth rate of 29%.

Ultra Thin Glass market forecast

Ultra Thin Glass market forecast

As the foldable market expands, the market for foldable cover windows is also expected to expand. The market for foldable cover windows is expected to expand from $410 million in 2023 to $840 million in 2027.

However, since Samsung Display plans to mass-produce foldable OLEDs only with UTG in the future, and BOE, TCL CSOT, and Visionox are also developing foldable OLEDs with UTG applied, the cover window market for foldable phones is expected to be led by UTG (UItra thin glass) in the future, and the share of colorless PI will continue to decline.

The UTG market is expected to grow from $240 million in 2023 to $740 million in 2027, and the colorless PI market is expected to shrink from $170 million in 2023 to $95 million in 2027.

Samsung Electronics, a leader in foldable phones, has applied UTG (Ultra thin glass) for cover windows to all foldable phones released since the ‘Galaxy Z Fold2’. Samsung Electronics processes and uses Corning’s glass, and Samsung Display is supplied with Schott’s glass.

Recently, Chinese companies that have adopted colorless PI as a cover window due to lack of technology are also increasing the use of UTG.

Motorola released clam-shell type ‘Razr 40’ and ‘Razr 40 Ultra’ in June. The panel supplier for both products is TCL CSOT, and Schott’s UTG is processed and supplied by SEED(赛德) for the cover window. Among them, the ‘Razr 40 Ultra’ has a larger external display of 3.6 inches compared to the existing foldable phone, similar to the ‘Galaxy Z Flip 5’ to be released by Samsung Electronics.

Oppo is preparing to release a 6.8-inch clam-shell type and an 8.1-inch book type foldable phone. All of Oppo’s new foldable OLED panels will be supplied by BOE, and TOKEN will process and supply Schott’s UTG.

Huawei released the successor to the Mate series, the Mate X3, in April. The foldable OLED panel of ‘Mate X3’ is supplied by BOE and Visionox, and the cover window is supplied with KOLON’s colorless PI coated by DNP. Huawei was developing UTG for cover windows, but adopted colorless PI due to performance issues.

The ‘2023 OLED Components and Materials Report’ published this time analyzes the development and business status of foldable/rollable OLED by set and panel companies, the latest OLED development status such as MLA (Micro lens array), QD materials, oxide TFT, and encapsulation technology, OLED Analysis of panel makers’ mass production capa and market outlook for major parts and materials were discussed.

▶ 2023 OLED Components and Materials Report Sample Download

Introducing DOW Chemical, Inkjet OCR for Foldable OLED [2022 Second Half OLED Seminar]

/in /by

At the “2022 Second Half OLED Seminar” held at the FKI Hall in Yeouido on November 9, 2022, Dow Chemical introduced silicon-based inkjet printable OCR that can be used for foldable OLEDs.

In general, OCR is mainly used for rigid OLEDs and OCA is mainly used for flexible OLEDs and foldable OLEDs, but recently, OCA is used for rigid OLEDs with hole design, and development to use OCR for foldable OLEDs is also underway.

DOW Chemical said OCR may not have a smooth shape near the edge and its characteristics depend a lot on the substrate, but replacing OCA with OCR can reduce the process and expand productivity.

In addition, it was mentioned that it is possible to form a thin film of 10 um through amount control, and that it has the advantage of overcoming the difficult step with OCA.

DOW Chemical, Inkjet OCR for Foldable OLEDs (Second half of 2022 OLED Seminar)

DOW Chemical, Inkjet OCR for Foldable OLEDs (Second half of 2022 OLED Seminar)

Acrylic series are widely used as materials for OCA, which is currently used for flexible OLEDs and foldable OLEDs that are currently on the market.

DOW Chemical finished its presentation with the expectation that silicon-based OCR will be wider in the future because it can maintain reliability even in extreme environments due to low viscosity or characteristic changes despite temperature changes.

DOW Chemical, Inkjet OCR for Foldable OLEDs (Second half of 2022 OLED Seminar)

DOW Chemical, Inkjet OCR for Foldable OLEDs (Second half of 2022 OLED Seminar)

▶ 2022 OLED Components and Materials Report Inquiry

QNED (quantum dot nano-rod LED) structure and core technology

/in /by

Samsung Display research center is accelerating the development of QNED as the next-generation display following OLED.

The reason Samsung Display is developing QNED as part of its large-size display business is that it is the only display that can produce the image quality that Samsung Display’s biggest customer, Samsung Electronics, can satisfy.

Samsung Electronics’ TV business direction, which has the world’s No. 1 TV market share, is to use QD to make color gamut better than OLED, and to use a display that can maximize HDR performance with high luminance and excellent gradation characteristics on a bright screen.

The only display that can satisfy the needs of Samsung Electronics is QNED.

QNED is a self-luminous display and because it uses QD, it has the best color gamut, HDR, luminance, contrast ratio, and motion blur, etc., and is a product expected by Samsung Electronics.

It can be confirmed by the structure that QNED is the display with the best characteristics. QNED consists of a pixel layer with a nano-rod LED on the TFT structure of 3T1C used in large OLEDs, and a color conversion layer consisting of QD and CF (color filter) on top.

In OLED, electrodes (cathode and anode) and electrode line for transmitting a signal to a pixel are located above and below the light emitting material, whereas in QNED, both the signal transmitting electrode (pixel electrode) and electrode line are located on the same plane. In addition to the pixel electrode, the QNED additionally includes a reflective electrode to increase light output efficiency. The pixel electrode serves as an alignment electrode for aligning the nano-rod LED.

< QNED section structure >

< QNED pixel structure >

< QNED pixel planar structure >

Looking at the planar structure of a QNED pixel, a plurality of pixel electrodes are connected in series in one pixel, and a nano-rod LED is positioned between the pixel electrodes. The pixel electrode is on the pixel wall (PW) formed of an insulating material, and each pixel is surrounded by a bank (BNK) to separate regions.

 

The core technology of QNED is driving technology and sensing technology.

The driving technology includes a driving technique for aligning nano-rod LEDs and a driving technique for uniformly controlling pixels that may have a deviation in the number of nano-rod LEDs. The alignment circuit includes switching elements for each pixel, and the switching element applies an alignment signal to the pixel. The alignment state of the nano-rod LED is determined depending on which alignment signal is given to each pixel.

< Drive circuit for alignment >

< Sensing transistor for checking alignment >

The most important driving technology is a technology that supplies current to each pixel so that the luminance can be uniform across the entire screen even if the number of nano-rod LEDs per pixel is different. It is a method of controlling each pixel based on the data read from the sensing transistor.

[QNED Technology Completion Analysis Report] details the sensing transistor, sensing wiring, and sensing signals that can check the nano-rod LED alignment status on the panel.

 

As sensing technology, there are sensing technology (sensing transistor) designed inside QNED and sensing technology used in QNED manufacturing. The sensing technology used to manufacture QNEDs is inherent in inkjet systems. There are three sensing technologies in the inkjet system: the number of nano-rod LEDs in the ink and the viscosity analysis of the solvent, the analysis of the number of nano-rod LEDs sprayed on the panel, and the analysis of the nano-rod LED alignment state.

< Inkjet system configuration >

QNED has already proven that 4K 65 inches can be driven two years ago. Samsung Display is concentrating on finishing work to secure the screen uniformity of QNED.

Samsung Electronics widens the technology gap by applying new technology to ‘Galaxy Z Fold3’.

/in /by

According to the ‘2021 OLED Components and Materials Report’ recently published by UBI Research, the ‘Galaxy Z Fold3’, which is expected to be released by Samsung Electronics in August, has UPC (under panel camera) and pol-less (or color filter on) encapsulation, COE) and S Pen technology are expected to be newly applied.

First, UPC, a technology that realizes the full screen of a smartphone by placing the front camera under the screen, has been mentioned using a transparent PI substrate and various technologies such as laser patterning, but in the end, the cathode electrode is patterned with a laser and the resolution near the camera is different. Thus, it seems that the maximum transmittance was secured. It is analyzed that the transparent PI substrate was not applied to the mass production process due to the high process temperature of the TFT.

Although many panel makers have developed pol-less technology, which replaces polarizers with color filters and low-reflection technologies, they could not be applied because they did not show as much anti-reflection effect as polarizers. The polarizing plate is effective in preventing external light reflection, but reduces the amount of light emitted from the OLED light emitting layer by more than 50%. If the polarizer is removed, more light can be emitted with the same power to the outside, so if the same luminance is implemented, battery consumption can be reduced. Samsung Display seems to have implemented pol-less technology by applying color filters, low-reflection films, and black pixel define layer (PDL).

The S Pen is finally applied with an electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) method, and the 30 um thick product used in the previous work is expected to be used as it is for the UTG. The AES method, which does not require a digitizer, was also considered due to the flexibility issue of the digitizer made of metal, but it is expected that the S Pen will eventually be applied in such a way that the digitizer is located on both sides of the panel.

The ‘2021 OLED Components and Materials Report’ published this time includes not only the development trend of foldable OLED, but also the development trend of mobile devices and materials for TV. It is expected to be of great help to related companies.

<‘Galaxy Z Fold3’ Expected Structure ©2021 UBI Research>

OLED Market Enters Adjustment Period from Rapid Growth

/in /by

As smartphone makers, including Samsung Electronics and Apple, increased the use of OLEDs in flagship models, the growth of the OLED market, which had been rapidly growing, has been braked.

The third quarter of each year is the season with the best OLED performance for smartphones due to the launch of a new iPhone. According to the display market track of UBI Research (www.ubiresearch.com), in the third quarter of this year, 113 million units were shipped, an increase of 26.3 million units compared to 86.7 million units in the last quarter, showing a growth of 30.4%. However, this figure is due to an optical illusion. The reason is that the results in the first and second quarters were very poor compared to before due to COVID-19. Compared to the third quarter of last year, shipments in the third quarter of this year decreased by 17.9%. Shipments are smaller than in the third quarter of 2018.

The decrease in OLED shipments for smartphones in the third quarter is due to the addition of Huawei sanctions to COVID-19. The sharp drop in shipments from Samsung Display and BOE to Huawei deteriorated the third quarter earnings.

There are also many analyzes that companies such as Samsung Electronics, Oppo, and Vivo will benefit from the reflection due to Huawei sanctions. However, since Samsung Electronics is currently struggling in the Chinese market, and the brand power of Oppo and Vivo is less than that of Huawei, it will be difficult to replace the expensive smartphone market in China occupied by Huawei. Therefore, Huawei’s smartphones, which mainly use OLEDs, disappear from the market, and shipments of Samsung Display and BOE are also forced to decrease more than expected.

The growth of the smartphone OLED market is expected to slow for the time being due to Huawei’s smartphone production disruption, which was expected to break through the 300 million units’ market and purchase OLED in large quantities. As a result, the OLED market in China will suffer a severe oversupply situation.

Samsung Electronics’ foldable smartphone to be released in 2021, with touch pen and UTG thickness different?

/in /by

According to the ‘2020 OLED Components and Materials Report’ recently published by UBI Research, Samsung Electronics’ next-generation foldable smartphones to be released in 2021 are expected to be equipped with a pen function.

It is expected that the pen function will be added to Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Fold2, which was released in September, but the flexibility issue of the digitizer, which is an essential material to support the pen function, and ultra thin glass (UTG), the cover window material. The pen function was not added in the end due to its thin thickness.

In order to add a pen function, Samsung Display seems to be considering applying an active electrostatic solution (AES) method that does not require a digitizer and changing the thickness of UTG.

First, the’Galaxy Note’ series uses an electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) method with a digitizer at the bottom of the OLED panel. The EMR method has good touch sensitivity and does not require a battery to be embedded in the pen, but it is not applicable to foldable devices due to the flexibility issue of the metal digitizer.

Unless the companies developing the EMR method provide a special solution, the AES method is highly likely to be applied to the pen for the next ball double device. In this case, the sensor pitch of Y-OCTA is formed more densely or the Touch IC is more complex. Can be designed.

The AES method is also being developed by LG Display and BOE to apply to foldable devices.

In addition, the thickness of UTG is also expected to change. The 30 um thick UTG, which is currently commercially available, has good flexibility, but due to its film-like characteristics, when pressure is applied with a touch pen, traces remain and may affect touch sensitivity. To solve this problem, Samsung Display is developing UTG with a thickness of more than 60 um in cooperation with glass processing companies.

As the thickness of the UTG decreases as the thickness increases, it is expected that the UTG currently under development will be applied with a concept in which the folded part is processed thin and filled with a material having the same refractive index as glass. In addition, in the future, there is a possibility that an additional coating process will be added after the reinforcement process without a protective film such as PET on UTG.

In UBI Research’s ‘2020 OLED Parts and Materials Report’, Samsung Display’s expected change in foldable OLED was written as a roadmap and the trends of related materials were analyzed. According to the report, Samsung Electronics’ application of pens for foldable devices is expected in 2021, and UTG materials are expected to lead the market at 78% by 2025 in the future cover window market for foldable devices.

Will Dowooinsys expand UTG lines to prepare for the foldable phone market?

/in /by

The cover window material of Samsung Electronics ‘Galaxy Z Fold 2’ which will be released in the second half of this year, is UTG like ‘Galaxy Z Filp’. The reason why Samsung Electronics prefers UTG is analyzed for its sense of luxury, differentiation, and sensitivity for the touch pen expected to be applied in the future.

In 2021, the market for over 10 million foldable phones is expected to expand, and the main cover window material of Samsung’s foldable phones will be UTG. To respond to this, Dowooinsys should increase their capacity.

Dowooinsys’ capa is estimated to be 250K/month for 6 inch cells and 375K/month for 7 inch cells. Even if the 6 inch line will be converted to a 7 inch line in the future, it will be 500K/month. Considering the yield of Dowooinsisy and Samsung Display’s Vietnamese module line, more than 4 to 5 lines should be expanded.

Currently, Samsung Display’s Vietnamese module line is assumed as 450K/month considering the yield, but the Vietnamese module line is continually being converted into a foldable line. Even in response to the current situation that Samsung Electronics prefers UTG, Dowooinsys is expected to expand more lines in the second half of this year, and its location is also expected to be considered near Samsung Display’s Vietnamese module line.

With the expansion of Dowooinsys’ additional lines, the market of cover window materials for foldable phones is expected to change in the future. At UBI Research’s ‘Next-Generation Display Technology and Industry Outlook Seminar’ held in mid-July, it is predicted that UTG will lead the future market at a ratio of 7:3 with colorless polyimide.

LPKF’s laser glass processing technology, makes a cover glass thicker than UTG be folded.

/in , , , /by

It was expected that the S Pen would be applied to Samsung’s ‘Galaxy Z Fold2’, which will be released in the second half of this year, but it has passed the year.

UTG, the cover window material currently applied to Samsung Electronics’ ‘Galaxy Z Filp’, is 30 um thick and is 1/10 thinner than 300 um, the thickness of commercially available cover glass.

It was possible to have flexibility by using UTG into a foldable phone, but due to the film-like characteristics, there was an issue that durability was insufficient to apply the S Pen.

In order to handle this issue, a technology that increases the thickness of UTG and secures flexibility will be needed. A typical method is processing the folding part of the glass to get flexibility even at a thick thickness.

LIDE (Laser induced deep etching) technology, developed and patented by German high-tech company LPKF, is expected to be a good example. It is known that this technology is a two-step process called micro-region transformation and chemical treatment using a laser, and can process glass of various thicknesses from 30 um to 900 um without micro crack.

LPKF explains that the part where the cover glass is folded is finely processed with a laser to give flexibility to the glass, and it is possible to design the pattern to be invisible using a polymer having same reflectivity as a cover glass.

If you look at Vitrion’s YouTube video (https://youtu.be/Vh3rU4LRHaw), a separate brand related to LIDE, in LPKF, you can see that a cover glass with a thickness of 500 um was patterned to secure bending radius of 1 mm.

<LPKF foldable OLED cover glass, Source: LPKF>

With this glass processing technology, attention is paid to whether a S-pen can be supported as a thicker cover glass is applied to a foldable phone in the future.

Foldable OLED UTG market expected to grow rapidly

/in /by

As Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Z Flip continues to be sold out in the market, Samsung Display’s foldable OLED cover window UTG (ultra thin glass) market is expected to grow rapidly.

According to UBI Research’s first quarter 2020 parts and materials market track, the UTG market is expected to grow to $ 160 million this year and to $ 640 million in 2023.

In Samsung Electronics’ first-generation foldable phone, the Galaxy folder, a transparent PI made of plastic was used as the cover window, but in the second-generation foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Flip, the cover window was replaced with UTG. The reason Samsung Display changed the transparent PI to UTG is that the glare of the glass cover when the screen is off gives a much more luxurious feeling than the transparent PI.

Samsung Display used transparent PI produced by Dongwoo Fine-Chem for the first-generation foldable OLED, but changed it to UTG produced by Dowooinsys technology. Glass for UTG is provided by Shott. To strengthen the foldable OLED ecosystem, Samsung Display secured a 27.7% stake in Dowooinsys and secured its position as the largest shareholder. Foldable OLED latecomers are now only developing out-folding type foldable OLEDs as transparent PI, but Samsung Display has changed materials to prevent latecomers from following the foldable OLED market at all.

3F starts construction of 1,100 tons of PI production plant annually

/in /by

China has entered the localization of PI. Although it has grown to the world’s highest level of LCD production, it is still only a few percent in the OLED panel market. In the OLED field, the Chinese government continues to invest heavily in panel makers, mainly BOE, to help China become the best production base. However, the supply chain of parts and materials that are essential for producing OLED is very poor.

The Chinese government has invested in a PI plant to make flexible substrates, which is the first step in flexible OLED manufacturing.

3F New Material, located in Changshu, started a project capable of producing 1,100 tons of PI per year. The project involved construction of a three-story production plant on a site of 2408 square meters with a total investment of 216 million yuan. The total building area is 7224 square meters, and after completion of the factory, it will have the capacity to produce 1,000 tons of PI for the substrate and 100 tons of transparent PI for the cover window.

Foldable Phone Cover Window Material Competition To Heat up.

/in /by

Ahead of Samsung Electronics’ unpacking event, interest in the foldable phone cover window material is hot. There was a concerned surprise that the Galaxy Fold, which was scheduled to be released in the first half of last year, was delayed for several months due to the tearing issue of the protective film. This year’s concern is whether Ultrathin Glass (UTG), which has emerged as a substitute for Colorless Polyimide (CPI), can be mass-produced without major issues.

Samsung Electronics will release the Galaxy Z flip known as “Clamshell” in the first half of this year and the Galaxy Fold 2 known as “Winner 2” in the second half of this year. The Clamshell is known to adopt UTG. This material is advantageous in terms of the hardness required for the use of the S Pen, the luxurious visibility and the soft touch unique to the glass. Moreover, the major reason for adopting UTG is known to remove wrinkle at the center of the screen, which has been pointed out as a disadvantage of CPI.

Prior to adopting UTG, Samsung Display invested $ 40.8M in Dowooinsys, UTG maker, and became the largest shareholder with 27.7% stake. The intention is to secure the stable supply of UTG and reduce its dependence on Japan for major materials.

<Ultrathin Glass (UTG) (Source : Dowooinsys homepage)>

However, there are also concerns about the adoption of UTG. Schott, AGC and Corning are also developing the product and they can produce substrates with a thickness of about 100 mm by the floating method or the slit nozzle method. To make it even thinner, Dowooinsys uses hot drawing or HF etching. The thickness of UTG to secure durability is believed to be 100 mm or more and with this thickness, the radius of curvature is about 2 ~ 3mm (~1mm for CPI), which reduces design freedom of the foldable phones. To improve durability, the UTG surface is coated with a polymer resin, which also prevents glass fragments from scattering when broken. The current problems of UTG are that mass production and yield are not yet secured due to the difficulty of the process, and that there exist traumatic worries on unexpected durability issues when released to the market.

Meanwhile, CPI material companies, which have been threatened by the news that UTG will be adopted for Clamshell, are also preparing to fight back. In order to remove the changeable window film (protective film) of PET material applied to Galaxy Fold, they are increasing the hardness of the hard coating on the CPI and developing a functional coating to give a glassy gloss. In particular, Dongwoo Fine-Chem, which did hard-coating on the CPI for Galaxy Fold, is known to simplify the process by developing hard coating materials including antifouling function. With all efforts added up , the CPI cover window structure is changed from the first generation foldable phone (PET + COA + CPI + COA) to the second generation foldable phone (CPI + COA), enabling the thickness to be reduced from about 200 mm to half, and the material cost and the process to be reduced.

<2019 Released Samsung Galaxy Fold Structure (Source: UBI Research Report)>

<Structure Prediction of the Samsung Galaxy Fold Follow-up Models: When Using UTG (Left) and CPI (Right) (Source: UBI Research)>

In addition to Sumitomo Chemical, which supplied to Galaxy Fold, Kolon Industries and SKC are also preparing for mass production of CPI. While UTG adoption seems to benefit to Clamshell with small screens, CPI is advantageous for larger screen sizes. UTG must make up for durability at the thickness retaining design freedom, and secure mass production system and price competitiveness through process improvement. CPI should strive to improve the hardness and appearance close to glass, and also increase price competitiveness. The material selection criteria will vary with the foldable phone models and customer response. Therefore the customer response for the Clamshell will be an important step in the future direction of the foldable phone cover window material. The market for the material is expected to grow rapidly, reaching $ 429.6M by 2023. The competition between UTG and CPI to take the market first has now begun.

[SID2019] What material is better for cover windows of foldable OLED? colorless PI or UTG?

/in /by

Since Royole introduced ‘FlexPai’, a foldable OLED phone, Samsung Electronics and Huawei have also launched Foldable OLED phones, attracting great interest from the industry and the public.

The biggest change of the foldable OLED phone currently being commercialized or under preparation is that the cover window of the glass material used in the existing flexible OLED has been changed to colorless PI material.

Colorless PI is thinner than conventional cover window glass, which is advantageous in reducing the radius of curvature and has the advantage of not breaking. UTG (ultra-thin glass), which has good surface touch-feel and scratch-resistant glass as thin as possible, is also attracting attention as a cover window material for foldable OLEDs.

At the SID Display Week exhibition in San Jose, KOLON exhibited colorless PI with hard coating. KOLON, which has been ready for mass production of colorless PI since 2018, is currently supplying colorless PI for foldable OLED cover windows to AUO, BOE, LG Display, and Royole.

Hard coating company DNP and TOYOCHEM also exhibited colorless PI with hard coating. DNP’s company official said that the film is under development and its main business area is hard coating, and TOYOCHEM’s company official said that it supplied hard coating samples to KOLON and SKC.

Meanwhile, SCHOTT, a UTG development company, also attracted the attention of the audience by displaying UTG for foldable OLED cover windows. An official of SCHOTT said that the UTG currently being developed is a cover window product for out-folding, not in-folding, and that the thickness is currently in development from 0.7 mm to 2.5 mm in accordance with customer requirements.

As the smartphone set makers are expected to release foldable OLED phones in the near future, competition for related materials is also expected to be intense. Whether the Colorless PI will continue to dominate or whether UTG will be able to exercise its influence is highlighted.

[Press Release] AMOLED components and materials market grew to $ 24.15 billion in 2023

/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Although Samsung Electronics and Apple’s OLED smartphone market are stalled, Chinese smartphone makers are gradually increasing their use of OLEDs based on the huge smartphone market in China. As a result, BOE and Chinese panel makers have aggressively established a Gen6n flexible OLED plant, which is driving the OLED industry.

As a result of UBI Research’s panel makers’ operation rate analysis due to OLED plant expansion and supply and demand, the market for various component materials (excluding light emitting materials) that make up OLEDs is expected to reach $13.9 billion in 2019 and expand to $ 24.15 billion in 2023.

Recently, as the production of foldable OLED has started, various kinds of films that are not applied to LCD are emerging as core materials.

In the [2019 OLED Components and Materials Report] published by UBI Research, we examined the foldable OLED structure of Samsung Display, LG Display, and BOE, and analyzed the thickness and characteristics of the films that make up the module.

In the OLED components and materials market, components for TV OLEDs will grow rapidly to reach $ 19.1 billion in 2023 and lead the OLED industry.

What is the cost of OLED materials for the Galaxy F?

/in /by

What will be the price of foldable phone Galaxy F, which is expected to be on the market this year, is a concern for people around the world. Samsung Display is the only company that can mass-produce Foldable OLEDs with in-folding type used by Galaxy F.

Galaxy F with 7.29-inch OLED is a digital convergence product that can simultaneously target the smartphone and tablet PC market. The initial sale price will be around $ 2,000, and the estimated sales volume is about 1 million units this year.

The OLED industry is interested in how much the Galaxy F’s foldable OLED panels (including modules) will cost.

According to UBI Research’s material cost analysis data, Samsung Display’s foldable OLED material cost is 2.04 times higher than the Galaxy S10 5.8 inch. This is because the display area has increased, and the yield has been reduced.

Galaxy F, Galaxy S10, and iPhone XS’s flexible OLED material cost analysis shows that the module cost of iPhone XS is the highest at 95.2%, Galaxy S10 at 92.2% and Galaxy F at 89.3%.

[Press Release] Foldable OLED Market Grows Fast to US$ 24.6 Billion by 2023

/in , /by

eporter & Analyst : Daejeong Yoon

5G communication technology introduced from next year can process higher image quality and large-capacity contents such as VR more rapidly, besides real-time streaming service. As the communication speed increases, the relevant contents, are expected to be released, which require high resolution and large screen with graphics detailed.

The current smart phone is getting bigger up to 6 inches, but it is not enough for 4K resolution of 5G communication age. Since 4K resolution is to be possible at 7-inch and larger displays, they might be the most suitable product for the 5G communication era. Foldable smart phones are digital convergence products that can function as smart phones and tablet PCs as the next generation mobile devices that use 7 inch or more displays but maximize portability.

Owing to foldable OLED, foldable smart phones are likely to be available. Several companies have rushed to produce various prototype foldable OLED displays at exhibitions and conferences. A few panel makers even pledged to mass-produce foldable OLED displays competitively. OLED display companies worldwide including Samsung Display have invested enormous development costs in order to preempt the next generation product market, and now foldable OLEDs are starting to appear.

Samsung Electronics, which is leading the OLED smart phone market, is planned to launch the in-folding type foldable phone for the first time in the world next year. Accordingly, Samsung Display has prepared 1.5R foldable OLED. For Samsung Electronics, which has suffered sluggish sales of the Galaxy S series, Foldable Phone is a super premium product that needs to be succeeded.

<Expected structure of Samsung Electronics’ in-folding type foldable phone>

Source: Foldable OLED Report, UBI research

UBI Research (CEO: Yi, Choong-hoon), an OLED research institute, has published Foldable OLED Report. According to the report, the market for foldable OLED in 2019 is only US$ 480 million, but it is expected to grow to US $ 24.6 billion in 2023.

Yi said, “The rapid growth of the foldable OLED market is due to the fact that 7-inch and larger smartphones, which can support 4K resolution, become required products in the 5G communication era. Accordingly, the value of OLED panel makers will be determined by the success of foldable OLED production.”

<Foldable OLED Market Forecast>
Source: Foldable OLED Report, UBI Research

However, foldable OLED is not a product that anyone can produce. Since foldable OLED has a more complex module structure than conventional flexible OLED, it is necessary to overcome the changes in various panel characteristics caused by folding. Especially in in-folding type foldable OLED, compensation circuit technology to overcome TFT resistance change and resilience required when folding and unfolding screen are typical technical difficulties. In order to realize this technology, the key challenges of reducing stress at the area of folding, selecting a proper substrate, determining the ideal stack structure, and optimizing the liftoff process, need to be overcome. Even when folding over 200,000 times, it is required to have reliability that there will be no abnormality on display image quality and surface.

“Foldable OLED Report” published by UBI Research analyzes the development trends of panel makers together with the development issues of major films that determine the reliability of foldable OLED.

Fingerprint full-screen smart phones begin to compete

/in /by

<Vivo’s full screen smart phone with in-display fingerprint scanner, Android authority>

The competition for front fingerprint recognition of smart phones is expected to become hot.

In the smart phone with the existing home button, the front fingerprint sensor was installed on the home button. Fingerprint security enhances security, but recently, full screen Smartphone without home button has been released and fingerprint sensor has been moved to the back of Smartphone. This has caused disadvantages such as an uncomfortable hand shape when touching a finger to the fingerprint sensor and fingerprints on the camera lens.

In order to improve these points and to implement a complete full-screen Smartphone, the development of integrating full-screen fingerprint recognition with display is continuing.

The method of full-screen fingerprint recognition is largely examined by both optical and ultrasonic methods. The optics are inexpensive and easy to mass-produce, but the OLED substrate must be transparent because the sensor is to be located below the OLED panel. Therefore, it is applicable to rigid OLED using glass as a substrate, but it is difficult to apply to flexible OLED using colored PI as a substrate. The ultrasonic method is most stable in accuracy and durability, but it has a disadvantage of high manufacturing cost.

Currently, Chinese set makers have begun to launch smart phones with optical front fingerprint recognition. The Galaxy S10, which will be released next year by Samsung Electronics, is being watched for the adoption of ultrasonic full-screen fingerprint recognition. LG Display is also developing a display with front fingerprint recognition.

As such, the sales for full-screen smart phones with front fingerprint recognition are expected to be started in earnest. Competition in the smartphone market is expected to become more intense in the second half.

[iMiD 2017] OLEDON, Disclose plane source FMM deposition principle for 2250ppi OLED manufacturing

/in , /by

Prof. Hwang Chang-Hoon, CEO of OLEDON, a venture laboratory of Dankook University, presented a plane source FMM deposition technology capable of implementing 2250 ppi at iMiD 2017 held on the 28th.

According to Prof. Hwang Chang-Hoon’s presentation, the plane source deposition technology developed by OLEDON differs from the existing organic material deposition method. The plane source FMM deposition technique is that the organic material is first deposited on the metal surface to form a donor film and then re-evaporate it to form an organic thin film on the substrate. Applying this technique, organic matter forms a vertical gas beam due to plane evaporation. (Source patent: 1012061620000 Republic of Korea)

The shadow distance when organics are deposited with a plane source developed by OLEDON is 0.38 μm – 0.59 μm. This is a level at which a 2250ppi device having a pattern size of 4 um can be manufactured.

Prof. Hwang Chang-Hoon explained ‘applying the plane source deposition technique reduces the incidence angle of the organic material and dramatically reduces the shadow caused by the mask’. In addition, ‘using a plane source, the perpendicular organic gas beam can form a completely zero incident angle, so theoretically, the shadow distance can be zero um’.

<Principle of plane source deposition technology developed by OLEDON>

In addition, Prof. Hwang Chang-Hoon emphasized that ‘plane source deposition technology is essential for high-resolution shadow masks’.

For linear source FMMs currently in production, the shadow mask opening distance is 80 μm. As a result, the incidence angle of the organic material gas is inevitably large, making it difficult to produce a shadow mask having a high density pattern.

Prof. Hwang Chang-Hoon explained, ‘Using plane source deposition technology, shadow mask taping angle is 80 ° level’, and the distance between openings can be reduced to less than 20 μm so that plane source deposition techniques can solve the mask pattern density problems of linear sources’.

OLEDON is challenging fully shadow-free patterning conditions with plane source deposition technology, and plan to develop and install a plane source FMM evaporator capable of manufacturing 11K class micro OLED devices in cooperation with Prof. Jin Byung-Doo in Dankook University. (Reference: Homepage of OLEDON www.oledon.co.kr)

<The opening density change of the shadow mask when the plane source FMM deposition technique is used>

Meanwhile, OLEDON has 13 registered patents for plane source FMM deposition for mass production. Based on recent research results, they filed 7 new patents for mass production equipment in Korea and 3 applications are filed for PCT international application.