Japanese, Chinese OLED Panel Manufacturers Expected to Collaborate

The Japan-based Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that JOLED, which is in charge of OLED panel development and manufacturing in Japan Display Inc., is about to manufacture OLED panels and Chinese companies such as BOE and CSOT are expected to make an investment in the process.

“Japan Display is aiming to rebuild itself with OLED,” the newspaper reported, adding, “The company is planning to invest 200 billion yen in the manufacturing of OLED panels for use in smartphones and multiple Chinese companies have expressed their will to take part in it with Japan Display expected to choose its partners in the spring of 2018.”

According to industry insiders, the mass production is likely to start in the latter half of next year or later with less costly printing methods adopted. Earlier, JOLED said that it would reduce its cost to approximately 40% of those of Samsung and LG. Japan Display is expected to produce larger OLED panels in quantity with time, too.

At present, South Korean OLED panel manufacturers are regarded as being five to 10 years ahead of their Chinese counterparts. However, the gap can be narrowed quickly once China and Japan hold hands with each other with the Chinese government providing full support. These days, Chinese OLED panel manufacturers are concentrating their investment on mass production. BOE recently began to manufacture 5.5-inch flexible OLED panels and is planning to start the manufacturing of 5.99-inch panels next month.

According to market research firm DSCC, South Korean OLED panel manufacturers are predicted to account for 63% of the global OLED panel production capacity in 2022, down 31 percentage points from that of last year. On the contrary, China’s ratio is forecast to jump from 4% to 36% between last year and 2022.

As of now, Samsung Display is enjoying a market share of no less than 95% as a company manufacturing non-large OLED panels and LG Display is the only OLED TV panel manufacturer in the world. The size of the segment of the global OLED panel market covering large panels is expected to grow from US$1.56 billion to US$5.344 billion from this year to 2020.