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JDI and LGD Share Orders for the Apple Watch
LG Display and JDI, the two OLED panel suppliers for the Apple Watches, have begun overhauling their respective production lines for small and medium-sized OLED panel in order to increase productivity. The Electric Times noted that "JDI stated in its annual report to shareholders that "In this fiscal year, we have improved OLED precision and productivity through our own technologies. We are going to improve our 6th generation deposition OLED line at our Mobara Plant starting from March of 2021 so that we can supply our OLED panels to our customers without any setback." JDI’s Mobara Plant in Chiba Prefecture manufactures OLED panels for Apple Watch. There is a high chance that the company will drastically increase its production capacity in order to respond to orders from Apple. Apple selected JDI because it wanted to lower the purchase price of OLED panel from competition between JDI and partners to secure a new profit model. JDI is looking to increase the production capacity of the Mobara fab in order to bring in orders designated for LG Display. LG Display is also working on strengthening its production capacity of OLED panels for smartwatches. LG Display has been manufacturing flexible OLEDs for smartwatches and smartphones from the E2 fab since 2013. The E5 fab is scheduled to manufacture OLED panels for new Apple Watches. Because LG Display uses the same 6th generation ledger as JDI, productivity and competitive edge will have a significant influence on their order volumes in the future. Omdia estimates that shipments of OLED panels for smartwatches this year is going to be 98.71 million units and will surpass 100 million units for the first time and record 190 million units next year. Smartwatches may be the first major applications for microLED with volume adoption likely to take place 3-4 years from now, according to Epistar chairman Lee Biing-jye. Smartwatch vendors are showing interest in adopting micro LED displays, Lee said, adding a smartwatch screen resolution of about 300 x 300 is equivalent to 300,000 micro LED chips, which can be mass transferred in one go. It may take 4-5 years before micro LED sees volume adoption by TVs, Lee said. Epistar has been developing micro LED epitaxy and chip technology with AU Optronics (AUO) supplying glass substrates. Epistar has overcome many micro LED technological difficulties, such as mass transfer, and expects to achieve reliable production capability in 2-3 years, and introduce end-market applications in 3-4 years, Lee noted. Epistar now focuses on improving yield rates for micro LED epitaxy and reducing cost for mass transfer, Lee said. Micro LEDs sized 20-50 microns are too small for PCB substrates that support minimum sizes of 50-100 microns, and therefore glass substrates are used, Lee indicated, adding that glass substrates needs complicated processing and many tests. Apple may ditch OLED and introduce microLED-powered Apple Watches, but they’re at a least a few generations out
Figure 1: Apple Watch
LG Display and JDI, the two OLED panel suppliers for the Apple Watches, have begun overhauling their respective production lines for small and medium-sized OLED panel in order to increase productivity. The Electric Times noted that "JDI stated in its annual report to shareholders that "In this fiscal year, we have improved OLED precision and productivity through our own technologies. We are going to improve our 6th generation deposition OLED line at our Mobara Plant starting from March of 2021 so that we can supply our OLED panels to our customers without any setback." JDI’s Mobara Plant in Chiba Prefecture manufactures OLED panels for Apple Watch. There is a high chance that the company will drastically increase its production capacity in order to respond to orders from Apple. Apple selected JDI because it wanted to lower the purchase price of OLED panel from competition between JDI and partners to secure a new profit model. JDI is looking to increase the production capacity of the Mobara fab in order to bring in orders designated for LG Display. LG Display is also working on strengthening its production capacity of OLED panels for smartwatches. LG Display has been manufacturing flexible OLEDs for smartwatches and smartphones from the E2 fab since 2013. The E5 fab is scheduled to manufacture OLED panels for new Apple Watches. Because LG Display uses the same 6th generation ledger as JDI, productivity and competitive edge will have a significant influence on their order volumes in the future. Omdia estimates that shipments of OLED panels for smartwatches this year is going to be 98.71 million units and will surpass 100 million units for the first time and record 190 million units next year. Smartwatches may be the first major applications for microLED with volume adoption likely to take place 3-4 years from now, according to Epistar chairman Lee Biing-jye. Smartwatch vendors are showing interest in adopting micro LED displays, Lee said, adding a smartwatch screen resolution of about 300 x 300 is equivalent to 300,000 micro LED chips, which can be mass transferred in one go. It may take 4-5 years before micro LED sees volume adoption by TVs, Lee said. Epistar has been developing micro LED epitaxy and chip technology with AU Optronics (AUO) supplying glass substrates. Epistar has overcome many micro LED technological difficulties, such as mass transfer, and expects to achieve reliable production capability in 2-3 years, and introduce end-market applications in 3-4 years, Lee noted. Epistar now focuses on improving yield rates for micro LED epitaxy and reducing cost for mass transfer, Lee said. Micro LEDs sized 20-50 microns are too small for PCB substrates that support minimum sizes of 50-100 microns, and therefore glass substrates are used, Lee indicated, adding that glass substrates needs complicated processing and many tests. Apple may ditch OLED and introduce microLED-powered Apple Watches, but they’re at a least a few generations out
Figure 1: Apple Watch
