Last November (see our note 11/23/20) we noted that as part of the development of OLED notebook panels, both Samsung Display (pvt) and LG Display (LPL) were working on ways of increasing the brightness of such larger OLED displays by using a double OLED stack. This makes the production of such displays a more complex process, increases the TACT time, and will consume more materials, but will allow for a brighter display without increasing thickness, as would likely be the case using LCD technology.
While we are less sure of the timetable for LG Display’s double stack OLED, Samsung is adding two lines to its A4 fab that will be targeting the production of 18” and 20” OLED notebook displays, which we expect will begin production in early 2023. In the interim, we believe SDC has converted some of the A2 and A3 lines to notebook size production, although whether those lines utilize a double stack structure is still an open question.
The reason this is significant is that there are expectations that Apple (AAPL) intends to migrate more of its products to OLED. Since it now bases the entire iPhone line on OLED displays, logic holds that it will work toward its iPad line next, likely starting with the iPad Pro. We know of no timeline for such a transition, but with both Samsung Display and LG Display Apple’s biggest OLED suppliers, and both working to convert capacity to compete in this nascent market, there has to be some incentive a bit greater than developing a product and hunting down a new OLED notebook customer base. We expect Apple has ‘incentivized’ both with some sort of long-term OLED conversion plan that has lit the fire under both OLED producers.
While we are less sure of the timetable for LG Display’s double stack OLED, Samsung is adding two lines to its A4 fab that will be targeting the production of 18” and 20” OLED notebook displays, which we expect will begin production in early 2023. In the interim, we believe SDC has converted some of the A2 and A3 lines to notebook size production, although whether those lines utilize a double stack structure is still an open question.
The reason this is significant is that there are expectations that Apple (AAPL) intends to migrate more of its products to OLED. Since it now bases the entire iPhone line on OLED displays, logic holds that it will work toward its iPad line next, likely starting with the iPad Pro. We know of no timeline for such a transition, but with both Samsung Display and LG Display Apple’s biggest OLED suppliers, and both working to convert capacity to compete in this nascent market, there has to be some incentive a bit greater than developing a product and hunting down a new OLED notebook customer base. We expect Apple has ‘incentivized’ both with some sort of long-term OLED conversion plan that has lit the fire under both OLED producers.
Stacked OLED - Source: "Approaches for Long Lifetime Organic Light Emitting Diodes" - 11-12-2020
RSS Feed