Category Archives: Displays

The European Photonics Industry Consortium recently embarked on an ambitious project to map all the companies in Europe active in photonics, which amounts to over 3000 companies. This includes companies based in Europe, a headquarter or regional office, and companies who manufacture or extensively use photonics components, or provide services to the European photonics ecosystem. This could also include software developers, engineers, consultants, resellers and distributors, as well as academia and research organizations, clusters or other players in the photonics industry in Europe. The result will be a spreadsheet and interactive map that will be available to everyone.

To achieve this goal, EPIC is asking companies to participate in an open survey, which can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PhotonicsMapping

The survey will be available online until April 13, 2013 for companies to fill out.

Membership in EPIC is open to companies, research institutes, universities, and financial partners having operations in the European economic area. EPIC is owned and operated by its members. The annual budget is supported by subscription fees which are scaled to encourage participation of SMEs, R&D laboratories and universities, as well as larger companies. EPIC members encompass the entire value chain from LED lighting, PV solar energy, silicon photonics, optical components, lasers, sensors, displays, projectors, optic fiber, and other photonic related technologies.

The employment of touch panels on mobile phones has paved the way for easy access to various operations. Moreover, there are increased demands for more specifications with the mobility, notably for outdoor readability. Touch panel makers are seeking ways to catch both greater specifications and lower cost at the same time, amid rapidly falling touch panel prices. Thus, the capacitive touch panel structure is undergoing the sea of changes.

Capacitive touch panels could be largely divided into the GG method (cover glass + ITO glass sensor), mostly used by Apple, and the GFF type (cover glass + two ITO film sensors). However, recent developments have introduced new structures that are more efficient in production and cost; ones with superior optical traits; and some with favorable weight/thickness.

Regardless of the type, the cover glass and touch sensor have a high cost ratio for all structures. As for 10.1-inch tablet PCs, the cover glass takes up 35% and the touch sensor around 30~32% for both GG and GFF types, which is why all the attention is being put on touch sensors.

Cost Ratio of Touch Materials by Structure

display market analysis

(Source: Displaybank, “Touch Panel-use ITO Film/ITO Glass 2013”)

With the rapid growth of the tablet PC market, the ITO film market has seen a staggering growth in demand with more manufacturers, which once insisted on glass sensors, switching over to film. The ITO film industry is even faced with supply shortages because it was late in responding to the exploding demand.

Meanwhile, some laptop models and all-in-one PCs have been employing touch panels with the launch of Windows 8. Since it is still in its initial stages, the touch panels are only employed on some of the high-end ultrabook models. But touch functions are expected to be increasingly applied on mid-end products. Considering that touch panels applied on mid-end products need to be cost efficient, GFF or GG types are most likely to be employed rather than the current G2. However, since there is an absolute shortage of large-sized glass sensor lines, and because mobile devices have to be light, GFF types have a higher chance of employment over the GG, which is why demands for ITO film is expected to grow. But along with such movements, large supplies of ITO film are forecasted for next year, suggesting a quick fall in ITO film sensor prices.

Against this backdrop, Displaybank analyzed and forecasted the ITO film/ITO glass market, technologies, and industry. The report forecasts the market by continuously observing and assessing the following issues:

ITO Sensor Market Forecast
Market forecast based on future touch panel strategies; cost simulations; possible supply capacity; and surrounding infrastructure of the major models, such as the iPad, the iPhone, the Galaxy Note, and the Galaxy.

Film Sensor
Considered enhanced outdoor readability through narrow bezel, use of sunglass film, and increased direct bonding; greater demands for fine patterning as a result of enhanced readability; the problem of resistance which is an obstacle to upsizing; and trends surrounding replacements.

Glass sensor
Considered the employment of thin-film glass; and how to maintain the side solidity to expand the sheet G2 market

Corning, Apple’s glass supplier, announced yesterday that it will probably take at least three years before companies start making flexible displays using its new Willow flexible glass material.

Speaking with Bloomberg, Corning president James Clappin says that products with flexible displays are likely still three years out, adding that it’s now busy making "a lot of effort" to teach what it describes as "very big name" companies how to fully use the product. The glass has been rolled out as companies, such as Google, are considering launching wearable computers.

Clappin told reporters that companies have yet to come up with products that take advantage of Willow glass. The glass can be rolled up like a newspaper, allowing companies to make curved or flexible displays. Clappin believes people are not accustomed to glass you roll up.

Willow glass may be used in some simple products this year, said Clappin. Examples of these products could be thin films behind some touch panels or a flexible barrier for solar panels.

Corning said they have sent out samples of the flexible glass to makers of phones, tablets and TVs in June. Corning CFO, James Flaws, at the time said that the company hoped it would be available in consumer products this year.

advanced electronics packagingEngineered Material Systems, a global supplier of electronic materials for circuit assembly applications, debuts its DB-1568-1 low-temperature cure die attach adhesive for attaching semiconductor die in temperature-sensitive devices. Applications include smart cards, camera modules, flex circuits and more.

The DB-1568-1 is more than 90 percent cured after 30 minutes at 80°C, but has a dispensing work life greater than 48 hours (measured as a 25 percent increase in viscosity), while maintaining optimized rheology for stencil printing and excellent damp heat resistance and conductivity stability. DB-1568-1 features extreme flexibility that is ideal for flexible applications with high peel strength to withstand the stresses induced in flexible electronics and display applications. Also, this material can be fast cured at elevated temperatures (1 minute @ 180°C).

DB-1568-1 is the latest addition to Engineered Material Systems’ extensive line of electronic materials for semiconductor, circuit assembly, photovoltaic, printer head, camera module, disk drive and photonic applications.

Tech spending still going strongIT spending remained broadly strong throughout a difficult end to 2012, as business confidence waned in the shadow of the "fiscal cliff,” economic growth declined in much of Europe, and economies in Asia/Pacific struggled to cope with reduced exports, according to the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Black Book. In spite of these headwinds, worldwide IT spending recorded annual growth of 5.9% in 2012 in constant currency terms, keeping pace with the 5.8% growth recorded in 2011. Total IT spending on hardware, software and IT services reached $2 trillion, while ICT spending (including telecom services) increased by 4.8% to $3.6 trillion.

Last year was difficult for U.S.-based IT suppliers, however, which were adversely affected by the strength of the dollar throughout most of the year. In U.S.-dollar terms, worldwide IT spending grew by just 3.3%. This marked a significant slowdown from the U.S. dollar growth rate of 9.5% recorded in 2011. In 2013, IT spending is expected to increase by 5.5% as businesses and consumers continue to invest in mobile devices, storage, networks, and software applications.

While overall IT spending remained stable, 2012 was another difficult year for the PC industry, which recorded a 2% decline in annual revenues. Revenue declines were also recorded in servers, PC monitors, and feature phones as cannibalization from tablets and smartphones continued to reshape the IT industry landscape. For the first time, spending on smartphones in 2012 exceeded PCs, reaching almost $300 billion, while PC spending declined to $233 billion.

"Cannibalization is happening across the industry," said Stephen Minton, Vice President in IDC’s Global Technology & Industry Research Organization. "Smartphones have taken over from feature phones, tablet adoption is impacting PC spending, and the Cloud is affecting the traditional software, services and infrastructure markets. IT spending is still growing organically, but not at the same pace as prior to the financial crisis. Businesses are adopting IT solutions such as virtualization, automation, and SaaS as a means to reduce the annual increases in their overall IT spending at a time when economic uncertainty remains high."

The global economy has been volatile through the past 12 months, and this sense of uncertainty persisted into the first quarter of 2013. IDC expects the U.S. economy to stabilize in the second half of the year, driving IT spending growth of 5.5%. 2013 will be another tough year for Europe, however, where tech spending is expected to increase by just 2% as the Eurozone and UK struggle to shrug off the lingering debt crisis. Excluding mobile devices, growth in Europe will be less than 1%. Japan has meanwhile lost most of the post-reconstruction momentum that drove IT spending to increase by 4% in 2012, and will record IT growth of 0% this year.

"This will be another tough year for mature economies," added Minton. "Weakness in Europe, as governments continue to impose austerity measures with a direct and indirect impact on IT spending, has also damaged the export-dependent Japanese economy. The U.S. should perform better, as long as politicians continue to reach 11th-hour deals to avert an economic crisis, and the PC market in the U.S. will at least stabilize after two successive years of major declines."

Emerging markets have also been volatile in the past 12 months, with weaker economic growth in Brazil, India, and China, creating uncertainty for IT vendors. Economic projections for 2013 are generally positive, however, and IDC believes that the government in China has enough ammunition to ensure an improvement in overall growth. With penetration rates still relatively low in many segments and industrial sectors within the BRICs and other key emerging markets, a stable economic outlook will translate into improving IT spending trends.

"We’re more confident about China than we were in the middle of 2012, when PC shipments were slowing and there was a sense that the economy had slowed down more quickly than the government had planned," said Minton. "Underlying IT demand remained strong, despite the volatile capital spending patterns that mainly affected PCs, and total IT spending in China still increased by 16% last year, which was only slightly down compared to 17% growth in 2011. We expect more of the same in 2013, even in spite of the inevitable slowdown in some emerging technology adoption rates as those markets gradually mature."

The Touch Panel Transparent Conductive Film, or TCF, market was reported $956 million in 2012. Markets are anticipated to reach $4.8 billion by 2019. Indium tin oxide (ITO) is an entrenched technology for displays manufacturing. ITO has been the transparent conductive film technology for touch screens, but ReportsNReports says newer technology will erode ITO and provide improved functionality at lower prices.

Transparent conductive film enables features of smart phones and electronics applications, devices which are evolving in response in part to the characteristics of the transparent conductive film that is used in the user interface.

The advantage of transparent conductive film is that a very thin layer of material as a coating on a surface can provide touch screen capability. Transparent conductive film supports electronic device usability, and factors that influence commercial success in the wireless device and services market relate to usability above all. Development of an integrated hardware, software and service platform to support multiple wireless network standards is an essential aspect of market participation.

ReportsNReports noted that the key players in the transparent conductive film markets are mainly leveraging the expanding market opportunities related to mobile communication and media devices of smart phones and tablets. Transparent conductive film provides the base for device navigation by recognizing the presence of a finger as it moves across a screen. That navigation supports transmission of digital data into and out of the smart phone. The transparent conductive film markets are highly competitive, and the competition is expected to intensify significantly as new technologies evolve.

The principal competitive factors of the transparent conductive film market include price, product features, relative price/performance, product quality and reliability, design innovation, marketing and distribution capability, service and support, and corporate reputation. Indium tin oxide (ITO) has been the prevailing transparent conductive film used in touch screen applications, and it requires an expensive and cumbersome sputtering deposition process. The price of indium is increasing rapidly and the film is rigid. As a result, there is demand for more flexible film in the market.

Photo by gletham GIS, Social, Mobile Tech via flickr

The quantum dot recently emerged as a next-generation display material. Quantum dots, whose diameter is just a few nanometers, are semiconductor crystals. The smaller its particle is, the more short-wavelength light are emitted; the larger its particle is, the more long-wavelength lights get emitted. Considering that there are more advantages with the quantum dots over conventional light sources, it is not surprising that the quantum dot display gains a lot of attention.
 
The quantum dot display consumes lower power and has a richer color than the conventional OLED. In addition, the white light produced by quantum dots has high brightness and excellent color reproduction, raising its potential to replace the backlight unit (BLU) using the LED. Not surprisingly, leading companies in the display industry are accelerating to secure relevant technologies.

Analysis of Patent Application Trends
By country, 93 patents (or 34%) were filed in South Korea, 87 in the U.S., 36 in Japan, 22 in Europe, and 35 under the PCT. By technology, patents on quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLED) technology (188 patents, 69%) were applied the most, followed by those on BLU using the white light source; quantum dot display; and LED-using white light source technologies.  

Implications
As the quantum dot display has emerged as the next-generation display technology ever since the OLED, the leading companies in the display industry, including Samsung and LG, are making aggressive investment to take a lead in the technology. They not only develop their own technologies, but also purchase patents from; make technology licensing agreements with; or make equity investment in the companies of the field.

The competition to obtain key patents on the quantum dot display is expected to only increase. Monitoring published/issued patents on a regular basis and having a thorough analysis on them have become more important. 

Key Patent Report – Quantum Dot Display covers patent application trends and an in-depth analysis.

AMOLED screens unveiled at CESAlthough active-matrix organic light-emitting-diode (AMOLED) televisions headlined last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), shipments of these high-end panels will remain limited in the coming years, according to the Displaybank at information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

Shipments of AMOLED TV panels are expected to climb to 1.7 million units in 2015, up from 1,600 in 2013. While the jump in shipments is large, the total number of AMOLED panels by that time remains negligible compared to the vast number of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels being shipped.

Worldwide Forecast of AMOLED TV Panel Shipment (Millions of Units)

CES featured AMOLED TVs from leading manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Panasonic and Sony, generating major excitement at the event, according to Displaybank.

“But despite ongoing efforts among these companies to achieve mass production and lower cost via various technology options, it is unlikely that most of the AMOLED TV prototypes announced at CES will be available in the market this year. The limited availability and high pricing of AMOLED TVs will restrict their shipments during the next few years.”

The only AMOLED TV likely to ship this year will be LG’s 55-inch flat Full HD model, the 55EM9700.

AMOLED bonanza at CES

Staking competing claims to be the first and largest in the world, 56-inch 4K AMOLED TV prototypes were each shown by Panasonic and Sony at the Las Vegas event. The sets boasted four times—hence, 4K—the resolution of current 1080p televisions. For the 4K OLED samples, both manufacturers used oxide thin-film-transistor (TFT) backplanes, which present lower manufacturing costs than low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) backplanes.

Panasonic used the printing method on its 4K AMOLED TV, a simpler printing technology, making OLED production adaptable for a wider range of display sizes. In contrast, Sony used evaporation technology to deposit organic material in its top-emitting White OLED structure with a color filter. The panel was provided by AUO of Taiwan, which at the show also introduced its own 32-inch oxide TFT backplane with White OLED structure TV. Sony’s emission technology optimizes the OLED structure, which helps achieve better light management, enhances color purity and achieves higher contrast at lower power consumption levels.

Using different technological approaches, Sony and Panasonic were both able to make ultra-high-definition (UHD) 56-inch displays that reached 79 pixels per inch—twice the density of 55-inch full high-definition (FHD) displays used in the OLED TVs from LG and Samsung. For their part, Samsung and LG showed off 55-inch 3-D, FHD sets with AMOLED technology, coinciding with news that LG’s FHD TV will be available on the market by the first quarter this year. LG’s AMOLED TV utilized oxide TFT backplanes and the White OLED evaporation method, as it did in a prototype presented last year, eliminating the need for fine metal mask technology in OLED production.

White OLED provides an easier way to mass-produce OLED panels

Samsung, in contrast, used the LTPS TFT backplane and the RGB OLED evaporation method in its AMOLED TV prototype, similar likewise to what it did last year. Mainly applied in small- and medium-sized displays, sets with LTPS TFT backplanes and RGB OLED evaporation exhibit improved OLED performance, it is generally agreed. But with low yields and high costs, Samsung may find it difficult to launch AMOLED TVs in 2013 using these technologies.

Both Samsung and LG also unveiled their own curved 55-inch AMOLED TV prototypes at CES, with the sets boasting a 4-meter radius of curvature and Full HD resolution. Meanwhile, the success of Samsung and LG in implementing a large-sized curved OLED was thought to be a meaningful achievement in the display industry. However, both still face challenges with mass production, and market availability of curved OLED TVs is not a near-term possibility.

Yield improvement and cost reduction remain barriers

Also at CES, LG announced that its 55-inch Full-HD AMOLED TV will be available in the international market within a couple of months at a price of $12,000. LG has already started receiving preorders in its native South Korea, and the company claims it will start mass-producing the world’s first 55-inch OLED TV soon. While OLED TV makers all hope to become the acknowledged industry and technology leaders in their space, more improvements in technology, material and manufacturing appear to be needed in order to bring AMOLED TVs to the market.

In addition to technical and large-volume manufacturing challenges, OLED TVs also already face an uphill task of competing on prices with lower-priced, higher-resolution 4K LCD and even Full-HD LCD TVs. By the time AMOLED TV production achieves efficiencies in large-scale production, LCD TVs would have had an opportunity to become even more competitive in price and performance.

With still many challenges to be addressed despite many prototypes at CES, consumers are likely to wait a few more years before they buy their AMOLED TVs, Displaybank believes.

FlexTech Alliance, a developer of the flexible and printed electronics industry supply chain, announced today that Dr. Keith Rollins has been elected chairman of the Governing Board.  Dr. Rollins has more than 30 years of experience in the advanced materials and specialty chemical industries, and currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer at DuPont Teijin Films US Ltd.  He will serve a two year term, succeeding Dr. John Batey, formerly of Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc., who was the consortium’s chairman since 2011.  

As FlexTech Alliance chairman, Rollins will lead the governing board and all FlexTech Alliance stakeholders to further the organization’s development, continue to build membership, and increase its value through the provision of quality business and technical services.  The chairman’s role is to guide the board as it oversees the consortium’s decisions on policy, program content, and disposition of funds available for sponsoring technology-related research and development projects. 

“We are grateful for John’s Batey’s leadership over the past two years and now warmly welcome Keith Rollins as our new chairman,” said FlexTech Alliance President Michael Ciesinski. “Keith has a tremendous background in emerging technology and in assessing new business opportunities.  Previously, he led the U.K.’s Plastic Electronics Strategy Group, which produced an outstanding report on the opportunities presented by this industry.  With an impressive technical background and an extensive set of business contacts, Keith is well-positioned to strengthen FlexTech’s worldwide outreach.”

Over the last few years, Dr. Rollins has focused on technology development, strategic planning and business development in the displays and flexible electronics industries. Currently, his focus is on the development and widespread use of the DuPont Teijin Films range of polyester PET and PEN materials in flexible displays and electronics applications. Dr. Rollins received his Bachelor of Technology degree with honors in Applied Chemistry in 1979 and his Doctorate in Catalysis Chemistry in 1985 from Brunel University in London, UK.

“Successful deployment of flexible, printed electronics requires a multi-disciplinary approach, spanning materials development to electronics fabrication to conventional printing techniques,” explained Dr. Rollins. “FlexTech Alliance plays a pivotal role in bringing these diverse industries together.  I am honored to represent the industry and look forward to expanding FlexTech’s programs and services.”