August 15, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. (K&S, NASDAQ:KLIC) appointed Irene Lee to the role of chief quality officer, reporting to president and CEO Bruno Guilmart. Lee will oversee quality assurance functions across Kulicke & Soffa
Category Archives: LEDs
August 14, 2012 — Printed electronics is a set of printing methods used to create electronic circuits, sensors, devices, and various electronics products. Printing is emerging as a technology that can replace traditional photolithography processes for electronics manufacturing, reducing costly material use, very complex processes, and expensive equipment. Printing enables direct patterning of desired materials on the desired location without complex processes, and production is cleaner and more productive, according to Displaybank, an IHS analyst business.
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| Figure. Steps in printing electronics compared to steps in current electronics manufacturing methods. |
Printing devices can lead the creation of new industries through technology fusion.
Printed electronics can be classified as substrate and printing material-related technology: various technologies that allow functional materials to be deposited at a desired position, equipments and parts that can run these technologies, and methodologies.
Printed electronics process technology includes material technologies of printed electronics inks such as conductive inks, insulating materials, and metal nano-inks, new printing process technologies such as inkjet printing, µ-contact printing, and imprinting to print materials, and various equipment technologies to support these.
Table. Printed electronics technology applications.
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Area |
Detail |
Applicable processes |
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Displays and Lighting |
LCD |
-Color filter, alignment film, spacer: Inkjet, roll printing. -TFT backplane: Semiconductor layer, gate, S/D electrode, insulating layer, printing. |
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PDP |
-Wiring: Inkjet printing -Electromagnetic waves shield: Ag conductive film filter screen printing |
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OLED |
-organic light-emitting layer: Inkjet and nozzle jet when polymer-method OLED. -Transparent electrode layer: Conductive polymer inkjet, slot die coating. |
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e-Paper |
-Frontplane: Septum in wetting, inkjet and roll printing in solution injection. -TFT backplane: Active layer and insulating layer imprint, inkjet. |
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|
Lighting |
OLED |
-Organic light-emitting layer: Inkjet and nozzle jet when producing polymer-method OLED. |
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Smart products |
RFID |
Antenna: Roll printing -Others: Roll-to-roll to capacitors and chips |
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Packaging |
Sensor: Inkjet, roll, and screen printing in sensor layer. |
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Energy |
Solar cells |
-CIGS, CdTe, DSSC absorber layer: Spray, screen. OPV active layer: Inkjet, slot die, roll method. -Si electrode layer: Screen printing, inkjet, AD method. |
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Battery |
-Electrode layer: Slot die to electrode layer. |
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Others |
Touchpanels |
-Wiring: Screen and roll printing to electronic wiring. -Transparent electrode layer: Jetting and roll printing to replace patterned ITO. |
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Flexible PCBs |
-Wiring: Roll printing when forming high-density wiring. |
The report, “Printed Electronics Technology Trend and Market Forecast (2011~2020)” from Displaybank talks about printed electronics material technology, issue, process technology issue, and applicable areas throughout chapter 3~5, and chapter 6 and 7 summarize trends of companies and research institutes that are developing technologies in their fields. Lastly, chapter 8 forecasts and analyzes the size of printed electronics-applicable application in the next 10 years, and speculates the size of market, which can be created as printed electronics is introduced, for the first time in the world.
This report will help printed electronics-related technologies developing companies, companies reviewing new businesses, and companies that want to innovate through printed electronics process to understand an industry-wide trend and forecast future prospects. Learn more at http://www.displaybank.com/_eng/research/report_view.html?id=847&cate=6
August 13, 2012 — OSRAM AG, light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturer, laid the foundation for its Wuxi, China, plant, in a ceremony attended by high-ranking representatives of the Jiangsu province.
The groundbreaking begins construction; the back-end LED packaging facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. The Wuxi plant will be 100,000sq.m. with a “low three-digit million euro” investment from OSRAM over 5 years. It is also securing comprehensive support from its Chinese partners. In the final completion stage, the new assembly plant will be able to accommodate up to 1,600 employees.
OSRAM will continue to produce its LED chips at its Regensburg (Germany) and Penang (Malaysia) front-end plants. The Wuxi LED facility was announced earlier this year. It will join Penang in performing back-end packaging.
“Growing at a remarkable rate, Jiangsu Province’s LED industry is at the forefront in China. We will fully support Osram’s development in Wuxi with the highest quality service, and we also hope Osram can expand its investment in Wuxi to have the plant up and running as soon as possible,” said Xueyong Li, Governor of Jiangsu Province.
OSRAM said it based the packaging facility in Wuxi because China is a huge potential LED market. “With highly skilled personnel, a good infrastructure and experienced partners, Wuxi provides the best conditions for our new LED assembly,” said Aldo Kamper, CEO of the Osram Opto Semiconductors business unit.
In fiscal year 2011, Osram generated about one fifth of its revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, where it employs over 16,000 employees, roughly half in China.
OSRAM is part of the Industry Sector of Siemens and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world. Learn more at www.osram.com.
August 13, 2012 — In 2011, light emitting diodes (LEDs) were expected to grab market share from cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) in the display backlighting segment. However, prices for CCFL-backlight TVs fell alongside prices for LED-backlit TVs, and consumers preferred lower-cost models. Now, CCFL raw materials costs have exploded, setting the stage for market share grabs by LEDs, albeit later than expected, reports Jimmy Kim, DisplaySearch.
Rare-earth metals, the main raw material for CCFL phosphors, saw 5-10x higher prices from 2010 to 2011. As a result, the price of phosphor also jumped, rising to about 6x the price in 2010.
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| Figure 1. Prices for rare earth metals and phosphors for CCFL. |
This price increase could lead to a scale-down of CCFL production and a lower utilization rate, which will push CCFL unit prices higher, further closing the price gap with LED units.
In 2011, most Japanese CCFL makers had already shed the CCFL business, seeing lost cost competitiveness. Korean and Chinese CCFL makers took the opportunity to fill higher-than-expected CCFL demand. The large scale production enabled by the concentrated purchase orders helped them hold the CCFL unit price stable, even under the increasing raw materials cost.
During 2012, the market situation grew worse for CCFL makers. TV makers introduced new low-cost direct LED-backlit TVs for the entry TV market segment. They plan to increase their sales allocation to these new products, which will lead to a further decrease in demand for CCFL. CCFL panel shipments are expected to decrease more than 40% Y/Y after Q2 2012. In 2011, the decrease was 30% Y/Y. This means that the scale-down and lower utilization rate for CCFL production seems inevitable this year.
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| Figure 2. CCFL panel shipments. |
CCFL prices for some new models increased in Q2. Regardless, there have been almost no changes in CCFL prices for running models. The decrease in CCFL demand caused by the low-cost direct backlight TVs has led to a rise of CCFL unit price. This will probably lead to a further decrease in CCFL demand. We also expect that the EOL of CCFL-backlit LCD TVs will be accelerated.
This full article was published by Jimmy Kim in the DisplaySearch Monitor, August 2012. Learn more about DisplaySearch reports and more at www.displaysearch.com.
August 10, 2012 – PRNewswire — Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) will expand its facility in Yeosu, Korea, which will produce commercial quantities of finished catalysts and components used in the polymer industry. The additional manufacturing capacity will be dedicated to producing Albemarle’s PureGrowth products for metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), including high purity trimethyl gallium (TMG), triethyl gallium (TEG) and trimethyl aluminum (TMA). These products are used in the epitaxy of light-emitting diode (LED), compound semiconductor, and optoelectronic device wafers.
Albermarle’s existing capacity for these products and trimethyl indium (TMI) is at its Baton Rouge, LA, USA facility. They have been available commercially since January 2011. "Over 80% of the global demand for LED products is in Asia," said Jenny S. Hebert, global product manager for electronic materials, adding that the Korea facility will produce the PureGrowth products to meet demand in the high-growth region and reduce transportation.
The state-of-the-art Korea facilities will maintain the high purity standards required of electronic-grade metal organics. Property for the expansion has been acquired and infrastructure plans approved. The project is slated for completion in 2013.
Albemarle’s Performance Catalyst Solutions division, a segment of its Catalyst global business unit, delivers high performance catalyst solutions through a finished catalyst product portfolio. The division comprises Polymer Catalysts, Chemical Catalyst, and Electronic Materials. Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, automotive/transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop protection, food-safety and custom chemistry services. Albemarle regularly posts information to www.albemarle.com.
August 9, 2012 — Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays are growing rapidly and offer many performance benefits over liquid crystal displays (LCDs). However, 55” AMOLED TV displays cost 8-10x as much as a comparable LCD to manufacture.
Also read: AMOLED manufacturing improvements to enable TV market share grab
According to the NPD DisplaySearch AMOLED Process Roadmap Report, the manufacturing cost of a 55” oxide TFT-based AMOLED using white OLED (WOLED) with color filters is 8x that of a high-end TFT LCD display of equal size. The cost multiplier of a 55” AMOLED module using red, green, and blue (RGB) OLED is 10x. These higher costs are mainly a result of low yields and high materials costs.
LCD manufacturing is a mature process with slower, more incremental cost reduction. AMOLED cost reduction efforts are in their infancy, said Jae-Hak Choi, senior analyst, FPD Manufacturing for NPD DisplaySearch. These could include new and improved processes, printing technology, and higher-performance materials that will take AMOLED prices to parity with LCD in the long term.
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| Figure. Relative manufacturing costs of technologies for 55” TV panels. Based on current yield and material cost assumptions. Source: NPD DisplaySearch AMOLED Process Roadmap Report. |
In order to scale up to large sizes, advancements in several aspects of AMOLED manufacturing are needed, including the active matrix backplane, organic material deposition, and encapsulation. Because oxide thin-film transistors (OTFT) require lower capital costs and are similar to existing amorphous silicon TFT (a-Si TFT), the technology offers a strong alternative to the low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT currently used for AMOLED. However, there are many hurdles for mass production of oxide TFT, particularly threshold voltage shifts, which are continuing to prove problematic for AMOLED production.
While indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) and other forms of oxide TFT show great promise for backplanes, progress in scaling up LTPS production is also being made by increasing the excimer laser beam width to 1300 mm. In addition, the current method of depositing red, green, and blue materials by evaporation through a fine metal mask is being continuously improved. Pixel densities of 250 ppi are now possible, and over 280 ppi is feasible.
“High resolution patterning such as laser induced thermal imaging (LITI) and material improvements are still required for AMOLED to be highly competitive for super-high-resolution flat panel displays,” Choi said.
Manufacturing processes for small, 4” AMOLED displays are more mature, creating a much smaller cost premium over LCDs (<1.3x). Most AMOLED capacity is currently dedicated to small/medium production for smart phones, but much of the future capacity increase will be driven by fabs dedicated to TV production. Uncertainties abound, as AMOLED technology has not yet been proven in large-size TVs.
Based on planned investments, NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that the AMOLED market will grow nearly tenfold from 2.3M square meters in 2012 to more than 22M in 2016.
Samsung Display has been highly successful in its small/medium AMOLED production because it has been able to raise yields to near-LCD levels. This implies that manufacturers can potentially lower large-size AMOLED TV costs to be competitive with LCD TVs in the future.
The NPD DisplaySearch AMOLED Process Roadmap Report provides in-depth data and analysis on OLED manufacturing technologies including materials, backplanes, OLED, and encapsulation. It also includes an analysis of benefits, opportunities, negatives, and challenges for each technology. Unique to the industry, the report shows specification roadmaps for OLED manufacturing through 2016 and indicates which manufacturing technologies will be required to achieve stability and performance. Also, the report provides a unique equipment investment simulation and module cost modeling analysis. NPD DisplaySearch provides market research and consulting, specializing in the display supply chain, as well as the emerging photovoltaic/solar cell industries. For more information on DisplaySearch analysts, reports and industry events, visit http://www.displaysearch.com/.
August 9, 2012 — AIXTRON launched the PRODOS-200 PVPD system for deposition of organic thin film materials, used to make organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) displays, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and other manufacturing applications.
The system supports research on new deposition processes for polymer thin films and easy transfer to industrial processes with high deposition rates, high contour conformity of the deposited layers, and unrestricted scalability based on AIXTRON’s Close Coupled Showerhead technology.
AIXTRON expects adopters to develop new conductive and flexible layers, manipulate surface properties, and create flexible barrier layers, as well as improving today’s deposition processes and structures. The PRODOS line is designed to be modular and expandable for source materials in liquid, gaseous, or solid forms. It supports various PVPD processes, or all-dry processes, in which the carrier gas-based, gas phase deposition is used for the in-situ polymerization and layer formation of functional polymer thin films.
The tools accommodate substrates up to 200mm2. They can be integrated into cluster environments by means of relevant SEMI-compatible interfaces and are compatible with other AIXTRON systems, such as the OVPD* R&D line. The double-wall-chamber construction makes the system eases maintenance and enables fast modifications.
AIXTRON also recently announced that its BM II (2-inch) system is being used for research on depositing carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays for 3D devices, such as nano-antennas and nano-rectifiers by Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST) in South Korea.
*OVPD technology has been exclusively licensed to AIXTRON from Universal Display Corporation (UDC) for equipment manufacture. OVPD technology is based on an invention by Professor Stephen R. Forrest et al. at Princeton University, which was exclusively licensed to UDC. AIXTRON and UDC have jointly developed and qualified OVPD pre-production equipment.
AIXTRON provides MOCVD production technologies for semiconductor devices, such as LEDs, lasers, transistors and solar cells. For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6, DE000A1MMEF7; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN US0096061041), see www.aixtron.com.
August 9, 2012 — Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE), LED and LED lighting company, made revenue of $306.8 million in Q4 fiscal 2012, ended June 24, 2012. This represents a 26% increase compared to revenue of $243.0 million reported for Q4 FY2011 and an 8% increase compared to Q3 FY2012. For fiscal year 2012, Cree reported revenue of $1.16 billion, which represents an 18% increase compared to FY2011 revenue of $988 million.
Cree expects Q1 2013 to be flat to up 6%. You can see Cree’s full fiscal Q4 report here.
Analysts’ takes:
Cree’s results and Q1 FY2013 guidance set the stage for a recovery in FY13 with LED lighting sales gaining momentum and gross margins on the rise, said Maxim Group analysts.
Maxim notes that Cree’s LED business sector was up only 2%, compared to company-wide growth of 8% sequentially. It appears that volume growth is being offset by average selling price (ASP) declines, said Barclays Capital analysts, despite the continued ramp in the LED lighting market. LED sales are expected to remain mostly flat to slightly down in 2013.
Highest growth came from lighting. This could signal lower component sales through 2013, owing in part to Cree becoming a competitor with some customers by acquiring Ruud.
Cree also achieved slightly higher utilization at its LED manufacturing locations and core factory cost reductions, Maxim reported. The analysts believe production costs for Cree’s new product lines — such as the new CR6 series launched in July — offer a step down in costs by cutting the LEDs used from 30 to 6. Gross margin stability and expectations for modest improvements demonstrate the effectiveness of management’s ongoing initiatives to reduce costs, noted Barclays.
August 8, 2012 — The light-emitting diode (LED) industry is entering its third growth cycle, general lighting, according to Yole Développement and EPIC’s report, “Status of the LED Industry.” However, the cost of a packaged LED still needs to be reduced by a factor x10 to enable massive adoption. New business models are mandatory to capture added value of LED lighting.
Growth of the LED industry has come initially from the small display application and has been driven forward by LCD applications. LED TV was expected to be the LED industry driver for 2011 but the reality was quite different. Lower adoption of LEDs in the TV market and the entry of several new players, mostly from Asia, created a climate of overcapacity, price pressure and strong competition. As a consequence, packaged LED volume was about 30% lower than expected and revenue shrank due to strong ASP pressure.
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| Figure. Packaged LED revenue, by application. SOURCE: Yole, Status of the LED Industry, August 2012. |
Yole and EPIC estimate packaged LED revenue will reach a market size of $11.4 billion in 2012 and will peak to $17.1 billion by 2018. Growth will be driven both by the display (LCD TV) and general lighting applications until massive adoption of LEDs in lighting.
From 2014, the third growth cycle of the LED business will accelerate with the general lighting application representing more than 50% of the overall packaged LED business. In terms of volume, LED die surface will increase from 22.5 billion mm² (2012) to 80 billion mm² (2018). This will prompt substrate volume growth from 8 million x 2” wafer equivalent (TIE) in 2011 to 39.5 million TIE in 2018, with a CAGR of 26%.
The adoption of LEDs for general lighting applications strongly depends on technology and manufacturing improvements, improving performance and cost to hit an LED adoption trigger point. Industry consensus points out a cost reduction per lumen of packaged LEDs by a factor x10. This can be achieved through a combination of manufacturing efficiency and performance improvement, such as access to larger size wafers, improvements in LED epitaxy cost of ownership through yield and throughput, and improved packaging technologies (phosphors, optics, etc).
Additionally, improved package and luminaire design will also enable significant cost reduction.
Ultimately, the long life of solid state lighting (SSL) technology will totally change the lighting market by dramatically increasing the length of the replacement cycles. The replacement market (aftermarket) will be strongly impacted, pushing traditional players of the lighting industry to define new strategies to capture profit (intelligent lighting, lighting solutions, etc).
“In addition, as value is moving to the top of the value chain (module and luminaire levels), several players that were originally involved only at LED device levels will develop strategies of vertical integration in order to capture more value,” added Tom Pearsall, general secretary, EPIC. But accessing distribution channels represents a big challenge for those players who develop new approaches to sell their lighting products (e-commerce, new distributors). The rise of LED lighting will therefore depend on the right merger of the emerging LED industry with the traditional lighting industry.
The researchers also found that China’s GaN MOCVD reactor capacity has increased by a factor of 20 in the last 3 years. The capacity for GaN LED epitaxy has increased dramatically in 2010 and 2011. This increase took place across all regions but was most dramatic in China (increased by a factor x20 of the reactor capacity between Q4 2009 and Q1 2012).
“Most emerging Chinese LED epiwafer and die manufacturers are still lagging significantly behind their competitors in term of technology maturity and LED performance,” says Dr Eric Virey, senior analyst, LED at Yole Développement.
The bulk of those new companies are not yet capable of manufacturing LEDs to address the large display and general lighting applications that are currently driving the market. In the mid-term, consolidation of the Chinese LED industry will occur (scenario in the central government’s new five-year plan), and China should became a major actor in the LED industry.
The report presents all applications of LEDs and associated market metrics, LED cost reduction opportunities, entire LED value chain, a deep analysis of the general lighting application and an analysis of geographical trends. Authors include Pars Mukish, market and technology analyst and Dr Eric Virey, senior analyst at Yole Développement, amd Tom Pearsall, general secretary, EPIC.
Companies cited in the report: A-Bright, Advanced Photonics, American Bright, American Opto Plus, AOT, ApexScience & Engineering, APT Eelctronics, Aqualite Co, Arima, AUO, Avago, Bridgelux, Bright LED, Brightview electronic, CDT, Century Epitech, Chi Mei Lighting Technology, Citizen Electronics, CREE, CS Bright, Daina, Dominant Semiconductors, Edison, Elec-tech, Enfis, Epiled, Epilight Technology, Epistar, EpiValley, Everlight, Excellence Opto, Fangda group, Formosa epitaxy (Forepi), Galaxia Photonic, GE, Genesis Photonics, Golden Valley Optoelectronics, Hangzhou Silan Azure, Harvatech, HC SemiTek, Heesung, High Power Opto, Hi-Light, Hueyjann Huga, Huiyuan Optoelectronic, Hunan HuaLei Optoelectronic, Hunin Electronic, Idemitsu Kosan, Illumitex, Invenlux, Itswell, KingBright, Kodenshi, Konica Minolta, Korea Photonics Technology Institute (KOPTI), Kwality group, Lattice Power Corporation, LedEngin, LEDTech, Lemnis, Lextar/Lighthouse, LG Display, LG Innotek, Lighting Science, Ligitek, Lite-On, LongDeXin (LDX), Lumei Optoelectronics, Lumenmax, Lumex, Lumileds, LumiMicro, Lumination, Luminus, Lumitek, Lustrous Technology, Luxpia, LuxtalTek, MokSan Electronics, Moser Baer, Nanosys, Nanya, Nationstar, Neo-Neon, Nichia, NiNEX, Oasis, Optek Technology, Opto Tech, Osram, ParaLight, Philips, Power Opto, Powerlightec, Rainbow Optoelectronics, Rohm, Samsung SEMCO, Sanan Optoelectronics, Sanken Electric, Seiwa Electric, SemiLEDs, Seoul semi / Optodevice, Shandong Huaguang Optoelectronics, Sharp, Shenzen Mason Technology, Shenzen Mimgxue, Shenzen Yiliu Electronic, Shenzhen Refond, Showa Denko, Stanley Electric, Sunpu Opto, Supernova, Sylvania, Tekcore, TESS, Tonghui Electronic Corporation, Toshiba, Toyoda Gosei, TSMC, Tyntek, UDC, Unity Opto, Visera Tech, Vishay, VPEC, Walsin Lihwa, Wellipower, Wenrun Optoelectronic, Wooree LED, Xiamen Changelight, Xiamen Hualian, Ya Hsin, Yangzhou Huaxia Integrated Photoelectric (DarewinChip), Yangzhou Zhongke Semiconductor, YoungTeck, Yuti Lighting Shanghai, Zoomview (Xi An Zoomlight), and more.
Yole Développement is a group of companies providing market research, technology analysis, strategy consulting, media, and finance services. For more information, please visit www.yole.fr.
The European Photonics Industry Consortium, EPIC, has three important activities: dialogue with the European Commission, ownership of the European roadmap for photonic technologies, and developing the critical human resource of trained scientists and engineers in the European economic area. EPIC is composed of 80 member organizations and over 400 associate members. For more information: www.epic-assoc.com.
August 7, 2012 — Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are making inroads into displays, particularly small- to medium-sized units, and lighting. With OLED adoption, the total market value of materials used in OLED applications will grow quickly from about $500 million in 2012 to over $7 billion by the end of 2019, reports NanoMarkets.
Active OLED materials — emissive materials, hosts, and hole/electron injection and transport materials — will account for nearly $3 billion of that $7 billion pool.
Also read: OLED adoption means shifting reqs for OLED materials
NanoMarkets’ research report, “OLED Materials Markets 2012,” provides analysis and forecasts for OLED materials in the coming 8 years. It examines some of the latest market strategies, products and technical developments in OLED materials, as well as identifies how performance improvements are growing some addressable markets for OLEDs. Assessments of strategies at several top OLED materials suppliers are also included. Furthermore, the study is supplemented with granular eight-year forecasts of materials shipments in both OLED panel area and value terms, with breakouts by material type, deposition technology, and by panel type.
Material categories covered include: functional OLED materials in the emissive layer and hole/electron transport/injection/blocking layers as well as substrates, electrodes, and encapsulation technologies.