June 18, 2012 — Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are breaking through in displays and lighting applications in the past 18 months, after a long run as a potential technology, reports NanoMarkets. OLED materials must meet growing requirements as OLEDs hit the market, allowing OLED materials suppliers to break out of their niche, specialty status in the next few years.
Samsung’s Galaxy smartphone products with OLED displays outshipped Apple’s iPhones in Q1 2012, notes NanoMarkets. LG and Samsung have launched OLED TVs, hitting stores in 2012, with more to follow.
OLED-based lighting is also already on the market, although almost entirely in the form of low-volume, luxury lighting. The industry is working toward larger panels for general and architectural illumination — higher-volume, price-sensitive applications.
As the addressable market for OLEDs grows, so it does for OLED materials. The number of modules is increasing, and OLED module average sizes are getting steadily larger. Add to this trend a shift in the relative importance of different applications as OLED is adopted, and substrates, transparent conductors, organic semiconductors, emissive materials, and encapsulation technologies will need to be rapidly tailored for different needs.
For example, OLED materials suppliers are developing longer-lifetime blue emitters that will strongly benefit the display sector, while quality white emission schemes are needed for OLED lighting applications.
Novaled’s new OLED materials set could double OLED lifetimes
OLED manufacturers develop new color patterning technologies
Universal Display intros novel emission layer systems for OLEDs
“OLED MATERIALS OPPORTUNITIES 2012” is the latest update from NanoMarkets on the OLED materials markets. Analysts quantify the opportunities that are emerging from the booming OLED display industry and in the nascent OLED lighting market, where the key determinants of success will be device efficiency, lifetime, and reduction in total cost of ownership. The report also analyzes the strategies of some of the major players in this space, ranging from giant chemical firms such as BASF, DuPont and Sumitomo to important specialty firms such as UDC, Novaled, and Plextronics. It considers commercial implications of technology developments and predicts what they will mean to the industry overall. The report contains detailed volume and revenue forecasts for materials used for OLEDs broken out by material type and functionality, as well as by application and by deposition method wherever possible. NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging market opportunities in energy, electronics and other markets created by developments in advanced materials. Visit http://www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets’ reports and other services.