Category Archives: Flexible Displays

ASML and ZEISS today announced that both companies are filing initial legal claims against Nikon for infringement of more than 10 patents, related to a broad range of products in the fields of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, flat panel display manufacturing equipment and digital cameras. This follows Nikon’s announcement on April 24, 2017, that it has sued ASML and ZEISS. Both companies have denied infringement allegations.

ASML has today filed suits in Japan, both on its own and jointly with its strategic partner ZEISS. Additional suits will be brought in the United States.

Peter Wennink, ASML President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We have no choice but to file these countersuits. We have tried for many years to come to a cross-license agreement that reflects the increased strength of our patent portfolio. Unfortunately, Nikon has never seriously participated in negotiations. Now that Nikon has decided to take this dispute to court, we also have to enforce our patent portfolio, and we will do this as broadly as possible.”

ASML has been confronted with Nikon’s claims of supposed patent infringement before. In 2001, Nikon went to the United States International Trade Commission (US ITC). Two years later, the Commission found no violation and ASML won on all 15 accounts. ASML and Nikon subsequently settled in a cross-license agreement that allowed both companies to focus on further developing products and serving chipmakers, without the unnecessary distraction of an intellectual property dispute. Some patents were perpetually licensed; for others, the license period ended on 31 December 2009. A transitional period, during which the parties had agreed not to bring suit, ended on 31 December 2014. Nikon’s patent portfolio was larger than the portfolio of ASML and ZEISS in 2004, a situation which is now reversed.

Through sustained high investment in Research and Development totaling more than EUR 8 billion since 2004, ASML built up a portfolio of more than 10,000 patent rights. The application of these technologies has been adopted by all of the world’s largest chipmakers.

ZEISS holds more than 7,000 patents in many countries around the globe, developing technologies in optics and optoelectronics in areas such as microscopy, medical technology and lithography.

Reflecting the structure of composites found in nature and the ancient world, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have synthesized thin carbon nanotube (CNT) textiles that exhibit both high electrical conductivity and a level of toughness that is about fifty times higher than copper films, currently used in electronics.

Scanning Electron Microscope Images of architectured carbon nanotube (CNT) textile made at Illinois. Colored schematic shows the architecture of self-weaved CNTs, and the inset shows a high resolution SEM of the inter-diffusion of CNT among the different patches due to capillary splicing. Credit: University of Illinois

Scanning Electron Microscope Images of architectured carbon nanotube (CNT) textile made at Illinois. Colored schematic shows the architecture of self-weaved CNTs, and the inset shows a high resolution SEM of the inter-diffusion of CNT among the different patches due to capillary splicing. Credit: University of Illinois

“The structural robustness of thin metal films has significant importance for the reliable operation of smart skin and flexible electronics including biological and structural health monitoring sensors,” explained Sameh Tawfick, an assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois. “Aligned carbon nanotube sheets are suitable for a wide range of application spanning the micro- to the macro-scales including Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), supercapacitor electrodes, electrical cables, artificial muscles, and multi-functional composites.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply the principles of fracture mechanics to design and study the toughness nano-architectured CNT textiles. The theoretical framework of fracture mechanics is shown to be very robust for a variety of linear and non-linear materials.”

Carbon nanotubes, which have been around since the early nineties, have been hailed as a “wonder material” for numerous nanotechnology applications, and rightly so. These tiny cylindrical structures made from wrapped graphene sheets have diameter of a few nanometers–about 1000 times thinner than a human hair, yet, a single carbon nanotube is stronger than steel and carbon fibers, more conductive than copper, and lighter than aluminum.

However, it has proven really difficult to construct materials, such as fabrics or films that demonstrate these properties on centimeter or meter scales. The challenge stems from the difficulty of assembling and weaving CNTs since they are so small, and their geometry is very hard to control.

“The study of the fracture energy of CNT textiles led us to design these extremely tough films,” stated Yue Liang, a former graduate student with the Kinetic Materials Research group and lead author of the paper, “Tough Nano-Architectured Conductive Textile Made by Capillary Splicing of Carbon Nanotubes,” appearing in Advanced Engineering Materials. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the fracture energy of CNT textiles.

Beginning with catalyst deposited on a silicon oxide substrate, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were synthesized via chemical vapor deposition in the form of parallel lines of 5μm width, 10μm length, and 20-60μm heights.

“The staggered catalyst pattern is inspired by the brick and mortar design motif commonly seen in tough natural materials such as bone, nacre, the glass sea sponge, and bamboo,” Liang added. “Looking for ways to staple the CNTs together, we were inspired by the splicing process developed by ancient Egyptians 5,000 years ago to make linen textiles. We tried several mechanical approaches including micro-rolling and simple mechanical compression to simultaneously re-orient the nanotubes, then, finally, we used the self-driven capillary forces to staple the CNTs together.”

“This work combines careful synthesis, and delicate experimentation and modeling,” Tawfick said. “Flexible electronics are subject to repeated bending and stretching, which could cause their mechanical failure. This new CNT textile, with simple flexible encapsulation in an elastomer matrix, can be used in smart textiles, smart skins, and a variety of flexible electronics. Owing to their extremely high toughness, they represent an attractive material, which can replace thin metal films to enhance device reliability.”

In addition to Liang and Tawfick, co-authors include David Sias and Ping Ju Chen.

Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at Caltech have discovered the first three-dimensional quantum liquid crystal — a new state of matter that may have applications in ultrafast quantum computers of the future.

These images show light patterns generated by a rhenium-based crystal using a laser method called optical second-harmonic rotational anisotropy. At left, the pattern comes from the atomic lattice of the crystal. At right, the crystal has become a 3-D quantum liquid crystal, showing a drastic departure from the pattern due to the atomic lattice alone. Credit: Hsieh Lab/Caltech

These images show light patterns generated by a rhenium-based crystal using a laser method called optical second-harmonic rotational anisotropy. At left, the pattern comes from the atomic lattice of the crystal. At right, the crystal has become a 3-D quantum liquid crystal, showing a drastic departure from the pattern due to the atomic lattice alone. Credit: Hsieh Lab/Caltech

“We have detected the existence of a fundamentally new state of matter that can be regarded as a quantum analog of a liquid crystal,” says Caltech assistant professor of physics David Hsieh, principal investigator on a new study describing the findings in the April 21 issue of Science. “There are numerous classes of such quantum liquid crystals that can, in principle, exist; therefore, our finding is likely the tip of an iceberg.”

Liquid crystals fall somewhere in between a liquid and a solid: they are made up of molecules that flow around freely as if they were a liquid but are all oriented in the same direction, as in a solid. Liquid crystals can be found in nature, such as in biological cell membranes. Alternatively, they can be made artificially — such as those found in the liquid crystal displays commonly used in watches, smartphones, televisions, and other items that have display screens.

In a “quantum” liquid crystal, electrons behave like the molecules in classical liquid crystals. That is, the electrons move around freely yet have a preferred direction of flow. The first-ever quantum liquid crystal was discovered in 1999 by Caltech’s Jim Eisenstein, the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics and Applied Physics. Eisenstein’s quantum liquid crystal was two-dimensional, meaning that it was confined to a single plane inside the host material — an artificially grown gallium-arsenide-based metal. Such 2-D quantum liquid crystals have since been found in several more materials including high-temperature superconductors — materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance at around -150 degrees Celsius, which is warmer than operating temperatures for traditional superconductors.

John Harter, a postdoctoral scholar in the Hsieh lab and lead author of the new study, explains that 2-D quantum liquid crystals behave in strange ways. “Electrons living in this flatland collectively decide to flow preferentially along the x-axis rather than the y-axis even though there’s nothing to distinguish one direction from the other,” he says.

Now Harter, Hsieh, and their colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee have discovered the first 3-D quantum liquid crystal. Compared to a 2-D quantum liquid crystal, the 3-D version is even more bizarre. Here, the electrons not only make a distinction between the x, y, and z axes, but they also have different magnetic properties depending on whether they flow forward or backward on a given axis.

“Running an electrical current through these materials transforms them from nonmagnets into magnets, which is highly unusual,” says Hsieh. “What’s more, in every direction that you can flow current, the magnetic strength and magnetic orientation changes. Physicists say that the electrons ‘break the symmetry’ of the lattice.”

Harter actually hit upon the discovery serendipitously. He was originally interested in studying the atomic structure of a metal compound based on the element rhenium. In particular, he was trying to characterize the structure of the crystal’s atomic lattice using a technique called optical second-harmonic rotational anisotropy. In these experiments, laser light is fired at a material, and light with twice the frequency is reflected back out. The pattern of emitted light contains information about the symmetry of the crystal. The patterns measured from the rhenium-based metal were very strange–and could not be explained by the known atomic structure of the compound.

“At first, we didn’t know what was going on,” Harter says. The researchers then learned about the concept of 3-D quantum liquid crystals, developed by Liang Fu, a physics professor at MIT. “It explained the patterns perfectly. Everything suddenly made sense,” Harter says.

The researchers say that 3-D quantum liquid crystals could play a role in a field called spintronics, in which the direction that electrons spin may be exploited to create more efficient computer chips. The discovery could also help with some of the challenges of building a quantum computer, which seeks to take advantage of the quantum nature of particles to make even faster calculations, such as those needed to decrypt codes. One of the difficulties in building such a computer is that quantum properties are extremely fragile and can easily be destroyed through interactions with their surrounding environment. A technique called topological quantum computing–developed by Caltech’s Alexei Kitaev, the Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics–can solve this problem with the help of a special kind of superconductor dubbed a topological superconductor.

“In the same way that 2-D quantum liquid crystals have been proposed to be a precursor to high-temperature superconductors, 3-D quantum liquid crystals could be the precursors to the topological superconductors we’ve been looking for,” says Hsieh.

“Rather than rely on serendipity to find topological superconductors, we may now have a route to rationally creating them using 3-D quantum liquid crystals” says Harter. “That is next on our agenda.”

USB flash drives are already common accessories in offices and college campuses. But thanks to the rise in printable electronics, digital storage devices like these may soon be everywhere — including on our groceries, pill bottles and even clothing.

Duke University researchers have brought us closer to a future of low-cost, flexible electronics by creating a new “spray-on” digital memory device using only an aerosol jet printer and nanoparticle inks.

Duke University researchers have developed a new 'spray-on' digital memory (upper left) that could be used to build programmable electronic devices on flexible materials like paper, plastic or fabric. To demonstrate a simple application of their device, they used their memory to program different patterns of four LED lights in a simple circuit. Credit: Matthew Catenacci

Duke University researchers have developed a new ‘spray-on’ digital memory (upper left) that could be used to build programmable electronic devices on flexible materials like paper, plastic or fabric. To demonstrate a simple application of their device, they used their memory to program different patterns of four LED lights in a simple circuit. Credit: Matthew Catenacci

The device, which is analogous to a 4-bit flash drive, is the first fully-printed digital memory that would be suitable for practical use in simple electronics such as environmental sensors or RFID tags. And because it is jet-printed at relatively low temperatures, it could be used to build programmable electronic devices on bendable materials like paper, plastic or fabric.

“We have all of the parameters that would allow this to be used for a practical application, and we’ve even done our own little demonstration using LEDs,” said Duke graduate student Matthew Catenacci, who describes the device in a paper published online March 27 in the Journal of Electronic Materials.

At the core of the new device, which is about the size of a postage stamp, is a new copper-nanowire-based printable material that is capable of storing digital information.

“Memory is kind of an abstract thing, but essentially it is a series of ones and zeros which you can use to encode information,” said Benjamin Wiley, an associate professor of chemistry at Duke and an author on the paper.

Most flash drives encode information in series of silicon transistors, which can exist in a charged state, corresponding to a “one,” and an uncharged state, corresponding to a “zero,” Wiley said.

The new material, made of silica-coated copper nanowires encased in a polymer matrix, encodes information not in states of charge but instead in states of resistance. By applying a small voltage, it can be switched between a state of high resistance, which stops electric current, and a state of low resistance, which allows current to flow.

And, unlike silicon, the nanowires and the polymer can be dissolved in methanol, creating a liquid that can be sprayed through the nozzle of a printer.

“We have developed a way to make the entire device printable from solution, which is what you would want if you wanted to apply it to fabrics, RFID tags, curved and flexible substrates, or substrates that can’t sustain high heat,” Wiley said.

To create the device, Catenacci first used commercially-available gold nanoparticle ink to print a series of gold electrodes onto a glass slide. He then printed the copper-nanowire memory material over the gold electrodes, and finally printed a second series of electrodes, this time in copper.

To demonstrate a simple application, Catenacci connected the device to a circuit containing four LED lights. “Since we have four bits, we could program sixteen different states,” Catenacci said, where each “state” corresponds to a specific pattern of lights. In a real-world application, each of these states could be programmed to correspond to a number, letter, or other display symbol.

Though other research groups have fabricated similar printable memory devices in recent years, this is the first to combine key properties that are necessary for practical use. The write speed, or time it takes to switch back and forth between states, is around three microseconds, rivaling the speed of flash drives. Their tests indicate that written information may be retained for up to ten years, and the material can be re-written many times without degrading.

While these devices won’t be storing digital photos or music any time soon — their memory capacity is much too small for that — they may be useful in applications where low cost and flexibility are key, the researchers say.

“For example, right now RFID tags just encode a particular produce number, and they are typically used for recording inventory,” Wiley said. “But increasingly people also want to record what environment that product felt — such as, was this medicine always kept at the right temperature? One way these could be used would be to make a smarter RFID tags that could sense their environments and record the state over time.”

An innovative new technique to produce the quickest, smallest, highest-capacity memories for flexible and transparent applications could pave the way for a future golden age of electronics.

Engineering experts from the University of Exeter have developed innovative new memory using a hybrid of graphene oxide and titanium oxide. Their devices are low cost and eco-friendly to produce, are also perfectly suited for use in flexible electronic devices such as ‘bendable’ mobile phone, computer and television screens, and even ‘intelligent’ clothing.

Crucially, these devices may also have the potential to offer a cheaper and more adaptable alternative to ‘flash memory’, which is currently used in many common devices such as memory cards, graphics cards and USB computer drives.

The research team insist that these innovative new devices have the potential to revolutionise not only how data is stored, but also take flexible electronics to a new age in terms of speed, efficiency and power.

The research is published in the leading scientific journal ACS Nano.

Professor David Wright, an Electronic Engineering expert from the University of Exeter and lead author of the paper said: “Using graphene oxide to produce memory devices has been reported before, but they were typically very large, slow, and aimed at the ‘cheap and cheerful’ end of the electronics goods market.

“Our hybrid graphene oxide-titanium oxide memory is, in contrast, just 50 nanometres long and 8 nanometres thick and can be written to and read from in less than five nanoseconds — with one nanometre being one billionth of a metre and one nanosecond a billionth of a second.”

Professor Craciun, a co-author of the work, added: “Being able to improve data storage is the backbone of tomorrow’s knowledge economy, as well as industry on a global scale. Our work offers the opportunity to completely transform graphene-oxide memory technology, and the potential and possibilities it offers.”

As demand for the flexible AMOLED display continues to sharply increase, its revenues are expected to reach $3.2 billion in the third quarter of 2017, exceeding that of rigid AMOLED panels at $3.0 billion, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO).

With many smartphone brands planning to apply flexible AMOLED displays to their high-end product lines, revenues for flexible AMOLED panels are expected to grow over 150 percent compared to 2016. On the other hand, rigid AMOLED panels, now mainly used for mid-range smartphones, are forecast to decline 2 percent in revenues from 2016.

“Smartphone brands believe using flexible AMOLED panels in their latest high-end products will differentiate themselves from competitors still using rigid AMOLED displays or liquid crystal displays,” said Jerry Kang, principal analyst of display research at IHS Markit.

“Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have launched some of their flagship smartphones with flexible AMOLED displays since 2013, but have yet to become mainstream products given there was limited panel supply,” Kang said. “Since 2016, however, many more panel makers have focused their efforts on increasing their supply capacity for flexible AMOLED displays. They have also tried to optimize the manufacturing process and design better structure of these panels, making flexible AMOLED display a favored choice for smartphones makers.”

amoled shipments

According to AMOLED & Flexible Display Intelligence Service by IHS Markit, most smartphone makers are aiming to apply flexible AMOLED displays to their products in 2017, but some of them would still find it difficult due to the higher price tag.

“Currently, the cost to make flexible AMOLED panels is much higher than that of rigid AMOLED, but it is possible that costs will fall below that of rigid panels in the future as manufacturing yield rates improve,” Kang said.

Over 60,000 attendees are expected at SEMICON China opening tomorrow at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). SEMICON China (March 14-16) offers the latest in technology and innovation for the electronics manufacturing industry. FPD China is co-located with SEMICON China, providing opportunities in this related market. Featuring nearly 900 exhibitors occupying nearly 3,000 booths, SEMICON China is the largest gathering of its kind in the world.

Worldwide fab equipment spending is expected to reach an industry all-time record, to more than US$46 billion in 2017, according to the latest version of the SEMI (www.semi.org) World Fab Forecast. In 2018, the record may break again, with spending close to the $50 billion mark.  SEMI forecasts that China will be third ($6.7 billion) for regional fab equipment spending in 2017, but its spending in 2018 may reach $10 billion – which would be a 55 percent increase year-over-year, placing China in second place for worldwide fab equipment spending in 2018.

On March 14, keynotes at SEMICON China include SMIC chairman of the Board Zhou Zixue. ASE Group director and COO Tien Wu, ASML president and CEO Peter Wennink, Intel VP Jun He, Lam Research CEO Martin Anstice, TEL CTO Sekiguchi Akihisa and imec president and CEO Luc Van den hove.

SEMICON China programs expand attendees’ knowledge, networking reach, and business opportunities. Programs this year feature a broad and deep range:

  • CSTIC: On March 12-13, the China Semiconductor Technology International Conference (CSTIC) precedes SEMICON China. CSTIC is organized by SEMI and imec and covers all aspects of semiconductor technology and manufacturing.
  • Technical and Business Programs: 
    • March 14: China Memory Strategic Forum.
    • March 15: Building China’s IC Ecosystem, Green High-Tech Facility Forum, and Smart Manufacturing Forum, in addition Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 1).
    • March 16: Smart Automotive Forum, MEMS & Sensors Conference Asia, plus Power & Compound Semiconductor Forum (Day 2)
  • Tech Investment Forum: On March 15, an international platform to explore investment, M&A, and China opportunities.
  • Theme Pavilions:  SEMICON China also features six exhibition floor theme pavilions: IC Manufacturing, LED and Sapphire, ICMTIA/Materials, MEMS, Touch Screen and OLED.
  • Networking Events: SEMI Industry Gala, China IC Night, and SEMI Golf Tournament

For additional information on sessions and events at SEMICON China 2017, please visit www.semiconchina.org/en/4.

Kateeva today announced that it is expanding its Silicon Valley headquarters. The company has leased an adjacent building at its Newark campus, adding 75,000 sq. ft. that is zoned for manufacturing and business operations. This brings Kateeva’s total campus footprint to 150,000 sq.ft. Kateeva moved to its current location in early 2015 to facilitate production ramp-up of its YIELDjet inkjet printing manufacturing equipment for the global flat panel display industry. Since then, headcount has nearly tripled to 330 people, and orders for YIELDjet systems have soared. With the new building, Kateeva’s doubles its manufacturing footprint, providing ample space to accelerate production.

Leading flat panel display manufacturers use Kateeva’s precision deposition equipment for cost-effective mass production of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) displays. OLED technology is behind some of today’s most popular smartphones and tablets. Already, OLED screens curve around edges to enable unique form factors. Soon, when tablets, notebooks and smartphones can bend, roll and even fold without breaking, it will be thanks to OLED technology. OLED technology enables the production of displays on plastic (entirely free of glass), making them flexible and paper-thin.

Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system for OLED TFE mass production

Kateeva’s YIELDjet FLEX system for OLED TFE mass production

Kateeva’s first product, the YIELDjet FLEX system, enabled a rapid transition from glass encapsulation to Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) in new OLED production lines. The “freedom from glass” technology leap was the gateway to flexible displays. Each Kateeva inkjet printer is highly customized and built to extremely exacting specifications. Measuring approximately 2,000 sq.ft., the tool contains thousands of precision parts, and is differentiated by myriad innovations that are protected by 200 issued and pending patents. With the system, customers can achieve dramatically higher TFE yields and lower mass-production costs than what was previously possible with other deposition techniques. On an OLED mass-production line, Kateeva printers work in concert with tools from other leading equipment companies to process the panels.

Kateeva’s tools are designed and engineered in Newark, so the expansion will support the company’s growing R&D team. In addition, since Kateeva manufactures a majority of its products and components in Newark, the expansion will also support a large increase in its U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Kateeva’s President and Co-founder, Dr. Conor Madigan noted: “Kateeva’s manufacturing strategy utilizes a balance of production in Asia, as well as the U.S. This dual-region strategy generates optimum efficiencies and will continue as we grow. For now, our most complex and customized products will be built at our Newark facility where we can leverage our adjacent manufacturing and engineering teams to maintain highest quality while also satisfying our customers’ aggressive delivery timelines. This is far more difficult to achieve when our manufacturing and engineering teams are separated and remote. Building these products in the U.S. also helps us safeguard the intellectual property that differentiates our technology solution.”

Madigan listed other advantages of Kateeva’s newly expanded Newark HQ: “By obtaining an adjacent building we can maintain the operating efficiencies of a single site,” he said. “Also, in Newark we’re next door to several international airports, which is imperative for a manufacturer of capital equipment bound for production fabs in Asia. Finally, our location situates us ideally to draw talent from all regions in and around Silicon Valley.”

Today, FlexTech, a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, announced the agenda for 2017FLEX Japan, the first flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) conference in Tokyo on April 11-12. More than two hundred attendees are expected to participate from the international FHE community and adjacent industry sectors including semiconductor, sensors, and printed electronics industries. Japanese-English simultaneous translation will be available in all sessions of the conference. The event is based on the same format as the 15 year-old FLEX Conference events in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia.  Registration is now open for 2017FLEX Japan.

FHE is the leading technical approach to design and manufacture devices for fast growth markets including IoT, environmental sensing, wearable applications, flexible displays and other conformable and low profile applications. 2017FLEX Japan includes four sessions on critical areas for FHE success:

  • FHE / Printed Electronics – addresses latest technical developments on flexible electronic components including, substrates, printed communication, processing, power and displays
  • IoT Applications – covers new applications for FHE in home security, retail and distribution, and industrial IoT
  • Sensors – provides updates on integrating sensors into FHE systems
  • Smart Textiles – focuses on design of stretchable, twistable FHE components

The four sessions will feature 16 technologists and experts from Japan, Americas, Asia and Europe representing organizations and academia active in the FHE area, including:

  • Tohoku University: Masayoshi Esashi, professor, Micro System Integration Center
  • AIST: Toshihide Kamata, director, Flexible Electronics Research Center
  • Google: Kelly Dobson, research leader, Advanced Technology and Projects Group
  • SECOM: Tsuneo Komatsuzaki, managing executive officer, director of Intelligent System Laboratory
  • Cornell University: Juan Hinestroza, associate professor of Fiber Science, Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design
  • U.S.A. Air Force Research Laboratory: Michael F. Durstock, chief, Soft Matter Material Branch

The two-day program also includes a table top exhibition and a reception to facilitate business developments and technology collaboration.

To learn more about the event, visit 2017FLEX Japan website at: www.semi.org/jp/node/73811/

BOE, a Chinese display maker, takes top position in terms of large TFT-LCD display unit shipments in January 2017, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO). For the first time ever, a Chinese display maker, taking a total share of 22.3 percent in unit shipments, is displacing South Korea’s display makers, the historical leaders in shipment volumes.

large display shipment

“BOE has been aggressively attacking the IT display market in shipment volumes at a time when top-tier panel makers started to turn focus away from this segment,” said Robin Wu, principal analyst of large display at IHS Markit.

BOE now takes number one position in larger-than-9-inch displays for tablets, notebook PCs and monitors in terms of unit shipment. In particular, notebook PC displays showed BOE taking a 29 percent share further widening the gap with the number two supplier Innolux, which took a 20 percent share. Meanwhile, the number one supplier for TV application is still LG Display with 21.4 percent followed by Innolux with 16.3 percent and BOE with 15.9 percent.

However, the South Korean panel makers are still holding their lead in terms of area shipment with LG display taking top position with 24.8 percent share followed by Samsung Display and Innolux, according to the latest Large Area Display Market Tracker by IHS Markit.

“South Korean panel makers still retain their advantage in large-sized TVs, a higher-demand segment that has benefited from increasing UHD TV penetration and consumer migration to TVs with larger screens. IHS Markit expects South Korean panel makers, known for their operational and technical strengths in large-size TV display manufacturing, will stay ahead of their Chinese competitors in terms of area shipments for the time being,” Wu said.

“That said, 2017 could be the year the Chinese display makers begin focusing on enriching their product portfolio, and make a play into the Korea’s strong hold for large-size TV displays,” he said.

According to latest IHS Markit Large Area Display Market Tracker, shipments of large-area TV panels decreased by 11 percent month-on-month (m/m), but increased by 4 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 51.7 million units in January 2017.

Unit shipments for applications in January 2017 were as follows:

  • For larger-than-9-inch tablet panels, shipments decreased by 20 percent m/m and 9 percent y/y.
  • For notebook PC panels, shipments declined 8 percent m/m but increased by 20 percent y/y.
  • For monitor panels, shipments dropped 6 percent m/m and kept flat y/y.
  • For TV panels, shipments were down 6 percent m/m and 3 percent y/y.

On an area basis, large panel shipments decreased by 8 percent m/m, but increased by 11 percent y/y in January 2017. Shipment area for LCD TV panels declined 7 percent m/m, due to seasonality but rose 11 percent y/y.