Growth in OLED Improves Outlook for Some Japanese Firms
May 01, 2017

By incorporating OLED displays into the iPhone, Apple has raised the stakes for OLED material and tool suppliers.

• Idemitsu Kosan Co. is the go to source for blue fluorescent material used by Samsung, LG Display and others. It is a Japanese petroleum company that owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company began experimenting with OLEDs in the mid-1980s, seeking to reduce its reliance on petroleum after the global oil shock. Idemitsu role in OLED technology stems from its early research in blue diodes, which don't last as long as other emitters but are critical to creating a full range of colors on displays. Blue light has a higher frequency than red and green, packing enough energy to cut chemical bonds. 
• Canon Tokki Corp. has a near monopoly on the giant vacuum deposition tools used to deposit and pattern OLED material.
• Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Toppan Printing Co. are leading manufacturers of fine metal masks needed to pattern OLED emitters.  

 
Apple began patenting OLED technology in 2009 and some of Apple's recent OLED patents can be found here and here. Apple's patents on flexible displays and display technology in general can be found here and here. Analysts at UBS see 3D sensing on the horizon, saying they believe Apple is working on a structural light solution for its upcoming OLED iPhone 8 could be a 'game changer. despite reports that Apple is struggling with the implementation. They believe Apple will replace Touch ID with facial recognition technology in its OLED iPhone 8 with LG Innotek and Sharp developing a new module that would enable such function. "We believe combing combining 3D sensing and the location as well as payment information could bring up more personalized services and this could be one step towards potential augmented reality (AR) applications," UBS said. Further the firm's checks suggest the assembly of OLED iPhone 8 will not ramp up until October, not because of a delay but because this has been planned. They note the 3D sensing algorithm is even more complicated than that of dual-camera. Major beneficiaries for the new 3D sensing phone include: Largan, LG Innotek, AMS, STMicro, Sunny Optical.
 
Figure 6: Forecasting Release of the iPhone 8

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