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Samsung Display Wins “Korea Technology Award” for QD-OLED Innovation

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Recognized with Minister’s Commendation for developing high-resolution monitor and high-brightness TV QD-OLED panels

□ Leading innovation in large-scale panels with the world’s first 160PPI QD-OLED for monitors and 4,000-nit QD-OLED for TVs.

□ Winning products showcased at the “2025 Korea Tech Festival” at COEX (Dec. 3–5).

□ Choi Yeol, Executive Vice President, receives Presidential Commendation for contributions to industrial technology promotion.

Samsung Display announced that it has received the Minister’s Commendation at the “Korea Technology Award” for its development of the world’s first 160PPI (Pixels Per Inch) QD-OLED for high-resolution monitors and 4,000-nit QD-OLED for high-brightness TVs.

The company is currently showcasing its award-winning QD-OLED products, along with its foldable display lineup, at the “2025 Korea Tech Festival” held at COEX in Seoul from December 3rd to 5th. Established in 1992, the “Korea Technology Award” is considered the country’s most prestigious technology honor. It is awarded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Institute for Industrial Technology Planning and Evaluation (KIET) after evaluating leading domestic companies on technological value, development capabilities, and commercialization potential.

Earlier this year, Samsung Display launched its 160PPI QD-OLED for monitors and 4,000-nit QD-OLED for TVs, spearheading technological innovation in the large-sized display sector. The 160PPI monitor panel features an ultra-high-density pixel arrangement, packing 160 pixels into every inch. Higher PPI allows for a greater amount of data to be displayed within the same resolution, resulting in significantly sharper and more detailed imagery.

The 4,000-nit TV panel boasts extreme brightness and clarity that were previously difficult to achieve, delivering an exceptional viewing experience even in very bright environments. Optimized for High Dynamic Range (HDR) content, this product offers delicate expression in dark scenes while providing powerful contrast in bright scenes for lifelike picture quality.

Meanwhile, Choi Yeol, Executive Vice President and Head of Small & Medium Display Development at Samsung Display, was selected as a person of merit for the promotion of industrial technology at the festival, receiving the Presidential Commendation. EVP Choi was recognized for his pivotal role in the development of foldable displays.

[K-Display 2025] Samsung Display, QD-OLED 49″ DQHD Monitor

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[SID 2025] Samsung Display, QD-OLED 27-inch QHD 500Hz Monitor

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Samsung Display’s QD-OLED: Key Highlights at CES 2025

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Samsung Display unveiled the winning keywords to strengthen its QD-OLED business at CES 2025: ‘Brightness, Highest, Fastest.

“Brightness” represents the industry’s first TV OLED to achieve 4,000 nits.”

In 2025, QD-OLED achieved an industry-first high brightness of 4,000 nits by altering its OLED structure. It is reported that the structure was changed from 4-stack to 5-stack. The 5-stack QD-OLED includes an additional green (G) layer to enhance efficiency, resulting in a composition of Blue-Blue-Green-Blue-Green.

‘Highest’ refers to a 27-inch OLED monitor manufactured using deposition technology, achieving a resolution of 160 PPI. Although JOLED (now part of JDI) previously achieved 204 PPI with inkjet printing, this is the world’s first high-resolution product using deposition technology. Samsung Display aims to achieve 220 PPI for 27-inch displays in the future.

Another innovation in monitors is ‘Fastest.’ To target the growing gaming audience, Samsung Display has developed an OLED monitor with a 500Hz refresh rate. This monitor features no motion blur and an extremely fast response time, allowing gamers to keep up with the rapid pace of gameplay seamlessly.

The purchase volume of OLED emitting materials in the third quarter of 2024 is expected to reach 32.7 tons, the highest ever purchase volume of emitting materials in 2024

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According to UBI Research’s ‘4Q24_Quarterly OLED Emitting Material Market Tracker’, the purchase volume of emitting materials in the third quarter of 2024 was calculated to be 32.7 tons. Previously, material purchases were highest in 2021, when the market expanded due to COVID-19, but the all-time high was renewed in the third quarter of 2024. Considering the characteristics of OLED emitting materials, which show the highest usage in the fourth quarter of every year, it is expected that 2024 will see the highest usage ever.

Looking at each company, Samsung Display consistently holds the highest market share. Samsung Display had a 41.4% share in the entire OLED emitting material market based on purchase volume, followed by LG Display with 20.5%, BOE with 11.6%, and Visionox with 8.3%.

By substrate, RGB OLED still maintains the 80% level with a market share of 83.7% based on purchase volume, and as 8.6G lines begin to operate in earnest, RGB OLED’s market share is expected to gradually decline. WRGB-OLED’s market share was 11.3%, similar to the second quarter, and QD-OLED’s market share was 2.8%.

The market share of RGB 2 stack tandem OLED once rose to 6.4% in the second quarter due to a surge in iPad Pro OLED shipments but fell to the 2.2% range in the third quarter due to low demand. Compared to panel shipments, IT devices that use 2-stack tandem OLED for smartphone OLED, which uses single stack OLED, have large panel areas and have two light-emitting layers, so material purchase volume accounted for a higher share than shipment volume.

However, as BOE’s 8.6G line was confirmed to supply OLED for smartphones first, the growth of the 2 stack tandem OLED market was in the hands of Samsung Display. Starting in 2026, when OLED is expected to be applied to MacBook Pro, the purchase amount of light emitting materials applied to 2 stack tandem OLED is expected to more than double compared to 2024. The 2-stack tandem OLED panel supplied to MacBook Pro is expected to be supplied first by Samsung Display.

Junho Kim, UBI Research analyst(alertriot@ubiresearch.com)

▶OLED Emitting Material Market Track Sample

OLED emitting materials market in 2027 expected to reach US$ 2.59 billion with an average annual growth rate of 7.7%

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According to the ‘2023 OLED Emitting Material Report’ recently published by UBI Research, the total emitting material market is expected to reach US$ 2.59 billion in 2027 with an average annual growth rate of 7.7% from US$ 1.92 billion in 2023.

total emitting material market

total emitting material market

Analyst Yoon Daejeong of UBI Research said, “The small OLED material market is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 2.5% from 2023 to US$ 1.61 billion in 2027. And in 2027, Samsung Display’s purchase of small OLED materials is expected to be US$ 560 million, BOE US$ 430 million, and LG Display US$ 200 million.” and “the small OLED material market will change depending on how much the foldable OLED market replaces the sharp decline in rigid OLED shipments for smartphones.

Analyst Yoon continued, “As the shipments of LG Display’s WOLED and Samsung Display’s QD-OLED are expected to be 12 million units and 3 million units, respectively, in the large OLED material market in 2027, the purchase amount of emitting materials is also expected to be US$ 430 million and US$ 140 million, respectively”

Meanwhile, the report predicted that by OLED method in 2027, RGB OLED would occupy the largest share at 66.6%, followed by WOLED at 16.5%, RGB 2stack OLED at 11.4%, and QD-OLED at 5.5%.

▶ 2023 OLED Emitting Material Report Sample Download

OLED panel shipments for TVs are expected to reach 14.1 million units in 2027 with an average annual growth rate of 11.6% from 9.1 million units in 2023

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According to the ‘2023 Medium and Large OLED Annual Report’ recently published by UBI Research, OLED panel shipments for TVs are expected to grow from 9.1 million units in 2023 to 14.1 million units in 2027 with an average annual growth rate of 11.6%.

Shipment Forecast for OLED TV

Shipment Forecast for OLED TV

In 2022, it is analyzed that TV demand will decline due to the global economic deterioration, and global TV shipments will also stop at the early 200 million units. In the case of LG Display, it set a goal to ship more than 10 million WOLEDs in early 2022, including those for monitors, but released a total of 6.96 million units, recording a decrease of 880,000 units from 7.84 million units in 2021. Samsung Display’s QD-OLED shipments for TVs are also analyzed to have recorded 950,000 units.

As the economic situation is expected to gradually recover in 2023, LG Display’s TV WOLED shipments are expected to be 7.6 million units and Samsung Display’s QD-OLED shipments to be 1.5 million units.

Meanwhile, UBI Research predicted that LG Display’s micro lens array (MLA) applied ‘OLED.EX’ panel would be partially mass-produced from 2023, and Samsung Display’s QD-OLED monthly capacity of 36K is expected to be 41K per month by the second half of 2023 and 45K per month by the first half of 2024.

▶ 2023 Medium and Large OLED Display Annual Report Sample Download

New emitting structure QM2 for QD-OLED will be applied to Samsung Electronics’ 2023 OLED TVs

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According to ‘AMOLED Manufacturing Process Report Ver.5’ recently published by UBI Research, QM2, a new emitting structure of QD-OLED, has been applied from the end of 2022, and is expected to be applied to Samsung Electronics’ 2023 OLED TVs.

QD-OLED QM2 structure, Source: AMOLED Manufacturing Process Report Ver.5

QD-OLED QM2 structure, Source: AMOLED Manufacturing Process Report Ver.5

QD-OLED, which is being mass-produced by Samsung Display, consists of three blue emitting layers and one green emitting layer, and is a structure in which the three primary colors of RGB are expressed through quantum dots and color filters.

In the QM1 structure mass-produced by the end of 2022, there was no aETL and G’ in the green emitting layer, but it was confirmed that all of them were applied from the QM2 structure. In addition, the change cycle of the emitting structure is expected to be extended from one year to two years due to recycling of materials.

Meanwhile, Samsung Display is expected to expand its existing 30K monthly QD-OLED Capa. to 45K monthly by 2024. In addition, from 2023, it plans to further expand its lineup by mass-producing 49-inch and 77-inch panels in addition to 55-inch and 65-inch panels.

▶ AMOLED Manufacturing Process Report Ver.5 Sample Download

Samsung Electronics to enter the domestic market with QD-OLED TV within the first half of the year

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77-inch QD-OLED TV exhibited by Samsung Display at CES 2023

77-inch QD-OLED TV exhibited by Samsung Display at CES 2023

According to the industry, Samsung Electronics recently obtained radio wave certification for its 55-inch OLED TV (KQ55C95A). Since products are usually released within three months after obtaining certification, it is expected to be introduced in the domestic market within the first half of the year. Samsung Electronics is expected to obtain radio wave certification for 65-inch products following 55-inch products, and then release them to the domestic market at the same time as 55-inch products.

Samsung Electronics launched 55-inch and 65-inch QD-OLED TVs in North America and Europe in March last year. At the time, it was not released in Korea due to problems such as low yield and profitability of QD-OLED panels. Samsung Electronics’ 55-inch and 65-inch QD-OLED TVs were released at 2,200 dollars and 3,000 dollars, respectively, but due to QD-OLED panel yield improvement, the prices went down to 1,450 dollars and 1,800 dollars, respectively.

In addition to 55-inch and 65-inch TVs, Samsung Electronics is also reviewing the release of a 77-inch QD-OLED TV first unveiled at CES 2023. Samsung Display also plans to diversify its QD-OLED lineup by producing 49-inch and 77-inch QD-OLED panels following 55-inch and 65-inch QD-OLED panels in line with set makers. If the MMG (Multi model glass) process is applied to the 8.5th generation (2200x2500mm) motherglass used by Samsung Display, it is possible to produce a total of four panels, two 77-inch panels and two 49-inch panels.

▶ 4Q22 Medium & Large OLED Display Market Track Sample Download

65-inch Premium TV $800 Price Drop On Average. Prices Are Expected to Continue to Fall.

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The price of 65-inch premium TV models released from April 2022 was analyzed to have dropped by an average of $800 by October. The price drop is expected to continue for a while because of the Qatar World Cup starting on the 21st of next month and Black Friday on the 25th of November.

Average prices for 65-inch premium TVs

Average prices for 65-inch premium TVs

The prices of Samsung Electronics’ QLED TV and QD-OLED TV, LG Electronics and Sony’s WOLED TV, and Sony’s QD-OLED TV and Mini LED TV were analyzed on a 65-inch basis until October 2022. The selling price of Bestbuy.com was used as the standard, and Sony’s TV was based on the selling price of the official website.

LG Electronics’ WOLED TVs A2, B2, C2, and G2, released in March, were priced at $2,000, $2,300, $2,500, and $3,200, respectively. Samsung Electronics’ 4K QLED TVs 85B, 90B, and 95B cost $2,000, $2,600 and $3,300. 8K QLED TVs 800B and 900B were $3,500 and $5,000. QD-OLED TV, S95B was priced at $3,000. Sony’s WOLED TV, A80K, was priced at $3,800 and QD-OLED TV, A95K, at $4,000. Mini LED TV, X95K was priced at $2,800.

In October, the price of LG Electronics’ G2 model fell by $300, forming an average price difference of $300 per series. Samsung Electronics’ QD-OLED TV, the S95B model, continues to maintain a price difference of $200 lower than LG Electronics’ high-end model, the G2. Sony lowered the price of the WOLED TV A80K by $1,000, the QD-OLED TV A95K by $500, and the mini LED TV X95K by $600.

The higher price of TV, the larger the price drop and among premium TVs, Samsung’s QLED TV, QN90B, had the highest rate of decline at 34.6%. Among OLED TVs, Samsung Electronics’ QD-OLED TV, S95B, had the highest rate at 33.3%.

In terms of price competition, Samsung Electronics’ S95B and LG Electronics’ high-end OLED TV, G2, are competing. Sony’s QD-OLED TV, which had maintained its price range, is also entering the price competition by lowering its price. The prices of Samsung Electronics’ 4K Neo QLED TV series and LG Electronics’ 4K OLED TV series are forming similarly. In Samsung Electronics’ entire TV series, QD-OLED TV is located between 90B and 95B, which are 4K Neo QLED.

Samsung Electronics’ 8K QLED TV, QN800B, has the same price as Sony’s 4K WOLED TV, A80K, and QN900B has a $300 difference from Sony’s QD-OLED TV A95K, leading to consumption of 8K TVs instead of 4K TVs.

With the Qatar World Cup starting on the 21st of next month and Black Friday on the 25th, premium TV prices are expected to continue to decline. Price-competitive marketing by company according to market conditions is expected to be a major variable.

▶ UBI Research website
https://ubiresearch.com/en/

[IFA 2022] Samsung (QD-OLED, Odyssey Gaming Monitors, The Serif, The Frame, The Sero)

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#ifa2022 #samsung #qdoled

▶ UBI Research official website
https://ubiresearch.com/en/

▶If you are curious about the latest news related to OLED?
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[IMID 2022] ETRI to Show ‘Stacked QD-OLED’ With Top Glass Removed

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At IMID 2022 held in BEXCO, Busan, from August 23rd to the 26th, ETRI held an exhibition and presentation, ‘Development of QD-OLED Technology with Fine Quantum Dot Pixel Array using Inkjet Printing Process’.

Stacked QD-OLED structure/ ETRI

Stacked QD-OLED structure/ ETRI

Two glass substrates are used in the QD-OLED produced by Samsung Display, but the ‘Stacked QD-OLED’ developed by ETRI has a structure in which the glass with the QD color conversion layer is removed. In the stacked OLED, TFE and BM are formed on the light emitting layer, and the QD color conversion layer is formed by the inkjet printing process instead of the lamination process. The ‘Stacked QD-OLED’ structure has advantages such as material cost reduction and process simplification compared to the existing method.

ETRI explained that there are advantages of material cost reduction and process simplification compared to the existing process through this, and the thickness of the QD color conversion layer can be made thicker than before, resulting in a higher color conversion rate and less blue light leakage.

Meanwhile, ETRI collaborated with Kosan Tech for inkjet module head, Duksan Neolux for black bank material, and Chem e for QD material to develop ‘Stacked QD-OLED’.

‘Stacked QD-OLED’ Developed by ETRI

‘Stacked QD-OLED’ Developed by ETRI

▶ OLED Display Report Sample Download

[IMID 2022] Samsung Display to Start Mass Production of 49-inch and 77-inch QD-OLED Panels Early Next Year

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At ‘IMID 2022’, which was held in BEXCO, Busan, from August 23rd to 26th, 2022, Samsung Display exhibited 77-inch QD-OLED and foldable OLED such as ‘Flex S’, ‘Flex G’, ‘Flex Note,’ ‘Flex Gaming’, and ‘Diamond Pixel’.

77-inch QD-OLED TV/ Samsung Display

77-inch QD-OLED TV/ Samsung Display

The 77-inch QD-OLED exhibited by Samsung Display was very similar to the previously released 65-inch QD-OLED TV with a resolution of 4K, a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, and a refresh rate of 120 Hz, but Samsung Display revealed that there was a slight improvement in luminance.

Following the existing 55-inch and 65-inch QD-OLEDs, Samsung Display plans to start mass production of 49-inch and 77-inch QD OLEDs from early next year. If the MMG (Multi model glass) process is used in the 8.5 generation (2200x2500mm) ledger used by Samsung Display, it is possible to produce two 77-inch panels and two 49-inch panels, a total of four panels.

Samsung Display concluded with, “Depending on the situation of the set makers, a new size QD-OLED TV is expected to be released as early as the second quarter of next year.”

▶ OLED Display Report Sample Download

[K-Display 2022 Business Forum] Samsung Display, ‘QD-OLED, The New Display Industry Standard‘

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Samsung Display's Vice President Seon Ho

Samsung Display’s Vice President Seon Ho

At the ‘K-display 2022 Business Forum’ held at COEX in Samseong-dong from Aug 11 to 12, Samsung Display’s Vice President Seon Ho and Marketing Team Manager Shah Chirag gave a keynote speech, ‘QD-OLED: Redefining Your Visual Experience’.

Vice President Seon Ho said, “As the COVID-19 situation has passed, online communication has become more active, and the era has come when daily life is done through displays.” He continued, “If the focus has been on increasing the size of the display so far, the display in the future will pursue better picture quality. Samsung Display is aiming for a display that has excellent color volume and purity, expands HDR, and does not change color depending on the viewing angle. QD-OLED will be the new standard for displays in pursuit of better picture quality.”

Marketing Team Manager Shah Chirag

Marketing Team Manager Shah Chirag

Shah Chirag presented, “QD-OLED is currently the display that can display the color closest to nature.” Samsung Display’s QD-OLED supports more than 125% of DCI-P3 and more than 90% of BT2020 color gamut due to the characteristics of quantum dots.

Shah Chirag also mentioned the excellent viewing angle characteristics of QD-OLED. He further explained, “Unlike general displays that have different colors or brightness depending on the viewing position, QD-OLED shows 50% improved luminance and color characteristics compared to conventional displays at a viewing angle of 60 degrees.”

excellent viewing angle characteristics of QD-OLED

excellent viewing angle characteristics of QD-OLED

Lastly, Vice President Seon Ho concluded with, “It has been half a year since QD-OLED TV came out as a set, and Samsung Electronics and Sony are selling them. Next year, we will continue to strive to create brighter and clearer displays so that more products can be launched in Korea. I hope the display industry develops in a better direction.”

Samsung Display mainly exhibited QD-OLED TVs at K-display 2022. Samsung Display has mass-produced QD-OLED panels since the end of last year. The production capacity is 30,000 sheets per month and the products produced are 55- and 65-inch TV panels and 34-inch monitor panels.

▶ OLED Display Report Sample Download

삼성디스플레이 QD-OLED

[K-Display 2022] Samsung Display’s QD-OLED

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Samsung Display unveiled QD-OLED for the first time in Korea.
It is unfortunate that the camera cannot capture the advantages of QD-OLED, but I hope you enjoy it.

▶ UBI Research official website
https://ubiresearch.com/en/

▶Business, display report inquiry
marketing@ubiresearch.com
+82-2-577-4391

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Fierce Price Competition Amongst WOLED TVs, QD-OLED TVs, and Neo QLED TVs

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We experienced fierce price competition in the first half of 2022 among premium TVs with a launch price of $2,000 or more. It will be interesting to see how the Amazon Prime Day event scheduled for July will affect TV prices.
2022 OLED TV prices until June 2022 was analyzed based on 65 inch TVs. The standard was the selling price on Bestbuy.com and Sony’s QD-OLED TV selling price on their official website.
LG Electronics’ WOLED TVs B2, C2, and G2 released in March were $2,300, $2,500, and $3,200, respectively. Samsung Electronics’ QD-OLED TV S95B was $3,000. Sony’s WOLED TV A80K was priced at $3,800 and QD-OLED TV A95K was priced at $4,000.

In June, the price of LG Electronics’ G2 model fell by $200, forming a price difference of $500 for each series. Samsung Electronics’ S95B model continues to maintain a price difference of $200 lower than LG Electronics’ high-end model G2. Sony lowered the price of the WOLED TV A80K by $300, while maintaining the price of QD-OLED TV A95K.
Samsung Electronics’ S95B and LG Electronics’ high-end OLED TV G2 are in heavy price competition. Sony is setting the price of QD-OLED TV higher than WOLED TV.
The price competition is also fierce between OLED TVs from each set makers and Neo QLED TVs with Samsung Electronics’ mini-LED technology.
As of June, the prices of Samsung Electronics’ 4K Neo QLED TVs, QN85B, QN90B, and QN95B, are $1,800, $2,600, and $3,300, respectively. The 8K Neo QLED TVs QN800B and QN900B are $3,300 and $4,800.

The prices of Samsung Electronics’ 4K Neo QLED TV series and LG Electronics’ 4K OLED TV series are similar. Within Samsung Electronics’ entire TV series, QD-OLED TV is located between 4K Neo QLED and 8K Neo QLED. Sony’s OLED TV series, which is highly evaluated in terms of picture quality, is competing in price with Samsung Electronics’ 8K Neo QLED TV series.
Although this price trend is expected to continue this year, aggressive marketing following the Amazon Prime event in the second half of the year and the Qatar World Cup is expected to be strong variables. Attention should be paid to how LG Electronics’ OLED TV with micro lens array technology, which is expected to be released next year, will affect the premium TV market in the future.

What is the future change of WRGB OLED to respond to QD-OLED?

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2As Samsung Display’s QD-OLED begins to be applied to TVs and monitors in earnest in 2022, technological changes are being detected for LG Display’s WRGB OLED, which has been leading the large OLED market.

LG Display’s WRGB OLED has produced a WBC structure consisting of two blue layers and one red+yellow green layer in Paju by the end of 2021, and a WBE structure consisting of two blue layers and one red+green+yellow green layer in Guangzhou. Deuterium substitution technology was applied to the blue of the WBE structure.

Since 2022, LG Display has stopped producing WBC panels from its Paju line and has been producing ‘OLED.EX’ panels with deuterium substitution technology applied additionally to green of WBE produced in Guangzhou.

<Photo of OLED.EX presented by LG Display at the 2022 OLED Korea Conference>

At SID 2022, LG Display also exhibited a large OLED panel with micro lens array technology. Micro lens array technology was applied to Samsung Electronics’ ‘Galaxy S Ultra’ series, and it is the first technology applied to large OLEDs. LG Display is known to expect a 20% improvement in luminance compared to the previous one by applying micro lens array technology. Panels which micro lens array technology is applied are expected to be produced in Paju from the second half of this year.

Lastly, it is known that LG Display is developing a structure in which yellow green is removed from WRGB OLED. By eliminating yellow green, material and processing costs can be saved, and color gamut is expected to be improved.

Attention is paid to how LG Display’s WRGB OLED will evolve to compete against QD-OLED.

<OLED panel with micro lens array technology exhibited by LG Display at SID 2022>

[SID2022] Samsung Display Tour 2 Display Week 2022

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[SID 2022] Samsung Display Booth Display Week 2022

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LG Display Achieves Record Sales in 2021, Swinging a Profit after Three Years

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As LG Display posted the highest sales ever, at the same time it also made a sharp pivot into a profit for the first time in three years. On the 26th, LG Display announced that it had achieved annual sales of 29.878 trillion won and operating profit of 2.23 trillion won in 2021. “This is the result of the large-sized OLED panels in the premium market, the strengthening of the small and medium-sized OLED business base, and the innovation of LCD structures centered on IT products,” LG Display goes on the explain. While the overall TV market experienced negative growth last year, LG Display led the large-sized OLED business. OLED TV panel shipments grew by more than 70% compared to the previous year, which turned to profit in the second half of the year. This helped reach a break-even point.

Following the previous year’s earnings announcement, LG Display stated, “This year, we plan to expand profitability in stages based on shipment growth of more than 20% compared to the previous year and strengthened business capabilities,” and “From the second quarter, ‘OLED.EX’ will be applied to all OLED TV panel series to accelerate the trend toward OLED in the premium TV market.” OLED.EX is a TV panel that increases screen brightness (luminance) by 30% and reduces bezel by 30% by applying ‘deuterium technology’ and ‘personalization algorithm’ to organic light emitting devices. These are the core elements of OLED picture quality. In the case of small and medium-sized OLEDs, the mobile sector plans to improve profitability by expanding new models and high-end products in the second half of the year and expand to the overall mobility industry. The LCD division will continue its strategy of selection and concentration focusing on IT products.

LG Display also expressed confidence in Samsung Display, which has emerged as a new competitor in the OLED market. When asked about LG Display’s competitiveness compared to Samsung Display’s QD-OLED, Large-Scale Marketing Manager Lee Tae-Jong remarked, “Our competitor’s products have not been released yet, so an accurate comparison will be possible only after the actual launch.” He continued, ”LG Display, which has been in business for more than 10 years is far superior in our overall competitiveness in our products and cost, economies of scale, and customers. We will continue to widen the gap in the future.”

Samsung Display’s QD-OLED Applied to Sony’s TV and DELL’s Monitor

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QD-OLED panels, which are being mass-produced from the second half of 2021 at Samsung Display, will be applied to new products for Sony and DELL.

First, Sony announced ‘A95K’, the first TV with QD-OLED in its 2022 TV lineup. A95K is available in 55-inch and 65-inch models, featuring 4K resolution and a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

    <Sony’s QD-OLED TV ‘A95K’, Source: electronics.cony.com>

Meanwhile, Samsung Display’s QD-OLED is also applied to DELL’s 34-inch gaming monitor. DELL’s ‘Alienware AW3423DW’ monitor has a 34-inch size, 3440 x 1440 resolution, a refresh rate of 175 Hz, and a response speed of 0.1 ms. In addition, the monitor supports ‘DisplayHDR 400 True Black’. DELL said it will start selling around March 2022.

As Samsung Display’s QD-OLED enters the TV and IT markets, it is expected to compete fiercely with LG Display’s WRGB OLED and JOLED’s RGB inkjet printing technology in the existing mid-to-large market. Many have a huge interest as to which company’s technology will become the main technology in the mid- to large-sized market in the future.

Samsung Display begins mass production of QD-OLED in the fourth quarter of 2021

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Samsung Display begins mass production of QD-OLED in the fourth quarter of 2021, a new growth opportunity in the large OLED market

Samsung Display is planning to start mass production of QD-OLED in earnest from the fourth quarter of 2021. The mass production scale is 8.5G 30K/month, and it is expected to be mass-produced mainly for 65-inch 4K resolution panels. Since three 65-inch panels can be produced in the 8.5th generation, about 1 million panels are expected to be mass-produced annually.

At the closing seminar held in the second half of 2020, UBI Research predicted that Samsung Display’s QD-OLED will produce 200,000 units in 2021, 600,000 units in 2022, and 800,000 units in 2025. However, as Samsung Display announced in its second quarter conference call that it will also introduce a monitor product with a smaller QD display than a TV, production is expected to vary depending on the proportion of products..

If mass production begins in the fourth quarter, QD-OLED TV will be unveiled for the first time at the CES 2022 exhibition held in Las Vegas in 2022, and the product is expected to be officially released in the first half of the year.

Joo-seon Choi, president of Samsung Display, emphasized in a recently published sustainability report that “If QD displays are commercialized, new growth opportunities will be created in the large display industry, which has been stagnant for a long time.”

Attention is paid to how much influence Samsung Display’s QD-OLED mass production will have in the large OLED market led by LG Display.

<Expected structure of QD-OLED, Source: UBI Research>

Middle and Large OLED sales growth of 40.2% in 2020

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Although Samsung Display’s rigid OLED line is expected to decrease due to a decrease in Huawei’s volume due to the US production, demand for rigid OLEDs is expected to increase as demand for laptops, monitors and tablet PCs is increasing. To respond to this, investment in rigid OLED lines in A4 is also being reviewed. This year’s notebook OLED panel is expected to come out with more than 10 different model product lines, and Apple’s OLED production for iPad is scheduled to start from 2022, so demand for middle and large-sized OLED panels is expected to increase.

In addition, LG Display, a leader in P-OLED supplying in the automotive field, is planning to supply plastic OLEDs for automobiles to German car makers by producing premium OLED panels, and Samsung Display is also supplying OLED panels for vehicles.

According to the 2021 middle and large OLED annual report published by UBI Research, the total sales of middle and large-sized OLEDs in 2020 was $3.882.7 million, and last year was $2.63 billion, an increase of 40.2% from the previous year. By application, the notebook and automobile markets have increased remarkably, and the notebook, monitor, and automotive product markets are expected to grow in 2021.

Samsung Display’s QD-OLED mass production is expected to be around December 2021, and 65-inch panels are highly likely to be used by Sony. Samsung Electronics is expected to receive only 32-inch QD-OLEDs for monitors, not purchasing 65 inches.

LG Display’s 2020 TV OLED panel shipments were counted to 4.4 million units, and if the Guangzhou plant operates at 90K from the third quarter, the production capacity will reach 8.5 million units in 2021.

 

Samsung’s QNED, will make a sensation in the TV and display markets?

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QNED (Quantum dot nanorod LED), which is known to be under development by Samsung, is becoming a hot issue in the display industry in 2020.

With the emergence of micro LEDs, followed by CRTs, PDPs, LCDs, and OLEDs as TV displays, the industry is interested in whether QNED could be another new technology.

Samsung Display is known to stop the LCD business and invest 13.1 trillion won as an alternative to do the QD-OLED business. In this situation, attention is being focused because the development of QNED can act as another variable in the future of Samsung Display’s large display business.

QNED uses oxide TFT and QD (quantum dot) -CF (color filter) technologies used in QD-OLED manufacturing. On the other hand, the pixel material that emits light is characterized by being changed to a nano-sized bar-type LED (nanorod LED), unlike OLED emitting materials. The pixel manufacturing technology, which is the core technology of QNED manufacturing, is a method of spraying nanorod LEDs dispersed in a solution into a pixel area by an ink jet method and arranging them in a self-align method by an electric signal.

UBI Research published a report that analyzed the structure and manufacturing technology of QNED based on the patented technology filed by Samsung Display. This report is structured to quantitatively analyze QNED-related patents filed by Samsung Display, so that QNED’s technology completeness and mass productivity can be known.

Samsung Display QD-OLED Investment Timing Forecast to Oppo?

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Samsung’s LCD business, which began in 1991, will be suspended in 2021. Samsung’s LCD business is completely closed after a 30-year lifespan. Samsung foresaw the limitations of the LCD business 10 years ago and stopped investing in the 10G. Instead, Samsung Electronics has separated the LCD business to create a Samsung Display combined with Samsung SDI’s OLED and has been preparing for a new display era.

Samsung’s loss of LCD business can be estimated for two reasons. The first is the deterioration of profitability from China’s LCD over-investment, and the second is the transition to a new business with high added value.

Since the display is an essential product in the modern information society, demand is gradually increasing worldwide as the usage is increased. In addition, as the amount of information increases, the data to be expressed increases, so the display size must also increase. By these two factors, the display industry has the power to continue to develop. However, China’s LCD investments have continued to invest in large quantities over many years. In the wake of this, only two LCD companies in Japan, Sharp and JDI, remained, and the Korean LCD business also reached a point where it was necessary to organize the business due to deficits.

Samsung Display and LG Display have expanded the OLED business to respond to the low-priced panel of Chinese LCD companies, and have focused on producing OLEDs with the best image quality preferred by set makers with high brand power. Samsung Display already secured a market of $ 25.3 billion in the smartphone display business in 2019, and LG Display secured $ 2.2 billion in sales in the OLED market for TV last year.

Samsung Display has enjoyed tremendous sales and operating profit in the OLED business, but the LCD business has been in the red for several years. Samsung Display sells LCDs for monitors, mainly for LCDs for TVs, but has secured the optimal solution to replace them all as QD-OLEDs.

QD-OLED production, which Samsung Display started investing from this year, uses 8.5G equipment. This is because Samsung Display’s factory in Tangjeong is an 8.5G LCD line, which can reduce the cost of building an OLED production line. Samsung Display will produce 8K 65-inch QD-OLED panels at this plant starting next year. It also produces QD-OLEDs for 32-inch 4K monitors. Maintaining the TV and monitor panel business previously held by Samsung Display, profitability can be secured by selling expensive products.

Samsung Display started investing in QD-OLED 30K in the existing 8.5G LCD factory, but the total investment is 120K. The remaining investment is 90K. Samsung Display’s additional investment is expected to change in size and timing depending on the QD-OLED production situation starting next year. If a yield of over 60% is secured from the beginning of production, the remaining 90K can be invested in next year. This is the most desirable timing. It can be used without leaving the LCD engineer. To prepare for this situation, all LCD lines must be removed by the first half of 2021. The next scenario is when the QD-OLED yield is less than 60%. In general, when the yield is low, the plant cannot be fully operated, so it does not require much manpower. Since additional investment is appropriate after securing the yield, it is a method of separating the investment, investing 30 ~ 60K, and then investing the remaining size later.

Nobody know what will happen next year, but Samsung Display is steadily taking a step forward to secure the future business.

The OLED emitting material market will grow to $ 1.9 billion by 2020

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UBI Research(www.ubiresearch.com), a company specializing in OLED market research, predicted that the market for OLED emitting materials for 2020 will rapidly grow to $ 1.9 billion.

According to the OLED emitting material market track published by UBI Research every quarter, the emitting material market in 2019 was $ 1.304 billion, up 39.2% from 2018’s $ 0.937 billion market.

The reason for the growth of the emitting market in 2019 is proportional to the growth of the OLED panel market for smartphones. This is because OLED shipments for smartphones in 2018 were 407 million units, but growth was 16% in 2019 at 474 million units. (Source: UBI Research 2020 OLED Display Market Track).

The reason why the emitting material market growth is greater than that of the panel market is that 6G flexible OLED factories of Chinese panel makers have started operation. The production amount is still small, but the yield is low, so the input of the substrate is twice the amount of production, so the consumption of emitting materials is very high. In addition, it is one of the reasons that the market for emitting materials has grown due to the small purchase volume compared to Samsung Display.

As a result of counting sales by emitting materials companies in 2019, UDC accounted for $ 233 million, accounting for 17.9% of total sales, and Samsung SDI accounted for $ 212 million (including Novaled sales), accounting for 16.2%.

In 2020, both panel makers’ capacity and utilization rate are expected to increase, and consumption of emitting materials is also expected to increase.

The total consumption of emitting materials in 2019 was 73 tons, but it is expected to increase to 102 tons in 2020.

Expected consumption for each material is 16.9 tons for HITL materials and 4.15 tons for blue host materials. Blue host and dopant materials are expected to increase rapidly from 2021 when Samsung Display starts mass production of QD-OLED.

How much will be the investment cost for 8Generation QD-OLED TV?

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In the “2018 OLED Equipment Report” recently published by UBI Research, the required investment cost was analyzed for the QD-OLED that Samsung Display started to develop.

QD-OLED, which is being developed by Samsung Display, is a method of displaying three colors of RGB by separating green and red from the light emitted from blue OLED through QD (quantum dot) material. The light passing through the QD material once again passes through the color filter and displays a richer color.

QD-OLED is similar to the manufacturing method of WDRGB OLED produced by LG Display. First, both companies use oxide TFTs. At WRGB OLED, blue is applied twice and red and green are deposited between them. In contrast, QD-OLED is fabricated by depositing only blue material twice. Both methods use the open mask with an empty center.

For both QD-OLED and WRGB OLED, the color filter manufacturing cost is assumed to be same; however, QD-OLED should be equipped with additional equipment to coat QD materials.

According to the report, it is expected that the investment cost is to be equal because the similar equipment can be used for module, cell, encapsulation and evaporator. Since WRGB OLED is bottom emission type, it is formed together when backplane is formed including TFT. However, QD-OLED adopts top emission method. A color filter is separately formed on the top glass substrate and the QD layer is patterned thereon. Therefore, QD-OLED requires higher investment cost than WRGB OLED.

The report describes that based on 8Generation 26K, the investment cost for QD-OLED is estimated to be US$ 1.1 billion, which is 1.03 times higher than WRGB OLED (US$ 1.07 billion). In contrast, the required investment cost to manufacture OLED by inkjet method, which JOLED is promoting commercialization, is projected as US$ 0.88 billion, which is to be about 80% of QD-OLED.

QD-OLED TV, is it to be the next generation premium TV?

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Samsung Electronics is currently occupying the premium TV market with QD-LCD TVs, which use ‘PL-QD (photoluminescence quantum dot) technology’. This technology has a mechanism in which the material stimulated by external light re-emits light.

The operating profit of the consumer electronics division (CE), which controls QD-LCD TVs, fell more than Korean won 1 trillion in last year and the operating profit ratio was only 3.6%.

On the other hand, LG Electronics’ HE business division achieved a record operating profit of Korean won 1,566.7 billion and an operating margin of 8.1% through OLED TV. Sony also turned its operating profit into a surplus by quickly taking over the premium TV market with OLED TV.

OLED TV has had a positive effect in driving corporate sales growth.

Samsung Electronics has been developing EL-QLED, with EL-QD (electroluminescence quantum dot) technology, to increase its market share in the premium TV market. However, efficacy, lifetime and mass production technology of quantum dot, which is the material of QLED, is not yet secured.

Recently, QD-OLED TV technology, which uses blue OLED as a light source and that implements red and green colors through a quantum dot color filter (QDCF), is attracting attention.

<Expected structure for QD-OLED, Source: Samsung Display Blog>

By using QDCF, it is possible to easily make desired colors by adjusting the size of the QD material and improve the color reproduction rate. This is because the color gamut is enlarged to BT2020, so it is close to natural color and it is possible to deliver vivid picture quality more clearly. In addition, QD-OLED TV has a top emission structure, which makes it easy to secure the aperture ratio, thereby improving resolution and screen uniformity.

However, in QD-OLED TV, there are various problems to be solved such as lifetime and efficiency of blue OLED, and technology of ink-jet printing process. Given that the industry is still in the early stages of reviewing the business possibility, QD-OLED TVs are expected to go into mass production after 2020.

Attention is focused on the QD-OLED TV’s entry into the premium TV market and its impact.