Samsung to produce 50 million OLEDs by 2008
Nov 23, 2005
Samsung is preparing to mass produce OLED displays on glass substrates. Volume production will begin in early 2006.
The screens benefit from lower power consumption, wider viewing angles, faster response times and larger viewing areas compared to TFT and LCD screens.
According to the company the screens have a response time of 1 microsecond, 1,000 times faster than TFT-LCD screens.
Samsung first announced the technology last year, when it showed off a 17-inch prototype. Epson announced a 40-inch prototype screen around the same time, but this product is not expected to launch until 2007.
Others such as CDT and OSRAM are also working on mass producing OLED screens.
Samsung announced on Monday that it plans to produce a range of sizes, including 2-inch, 8.4-inch, 15.1-inch, and 15.5-inch screens, according to The Korea Herald.
The company said it will invest £260m in the next year to get the infrastructure in place for mass production in the second half of 2006. It hopes to ship 20 million units in 2007, rising to 50 million by 2008.
Samsung's basic OLED technology was licensed from Kodak and developed in conjunction with NEC, which sold its stake in the joint venture to Samsung at the beginning of 2004.
For more about OLEDs and other display types, attended Printed Electronics USA 2005 www.printelec.com.