Konica Minolta and Philips Form JV to Target Automotive Industry with OLED Lighting Panels
February 07, 2017
 
Konica Minolta and Pioneer are expected to merge their OLED lighting businesses under a 50-50 joint venture as early as spring. The Japanese companies will spin off their OLED development and sales operations into a new venture that will be an equity-method affiliate for both. Production facilities will remain with the current parents. Konica Minolta operates a plant in Yamanashi Prefecture, while Pioneer has a site in Yamagata Prefecture. The two companies aim primarily to gain an edge in the automotive OLED market, which is seen expanding rapidly. Konica Minolta's strength in bendable lighting materials made with plastic-film substrates will be combined with Pioneer's own OLED expertise and broad business network in the automotive industry. Taillights and interior lighting are likely automotive applications. Konica Minolta and Pioneer target 25 billion yen ($220 million) in OLED lighting sales yearly over the medium term via the new company up from an estimated few billion yen annually between them at present. Konica Minolta has acquired businesses in health care and security services to compensate for dull momentum in the maturing market for mainstay multifunction printers. Performance materials including OLED lighting are positioned as a growth field as well. The company seeks to cultivate the business with Pioneer, in view of active investment by rivals like LG group of South Korea. Pioneer seeks to bolster its presence in automotive OLED through this collaboration. The company has poured more resources into automotive while pulling out of money-losing operations such as plasma televisions and home audio systems. This merger seems to be a last ditch effort to salvage a multi-million dollar investment for Konica Minolta.  The established a R-T-R gab with a 1m m2 per month capacity but has yet to deliver commercial products of any substance. Pioneer has converted their Gen 2 PMOLED display fab into a lighting panel fab but has also shipped a limited volume of commercial product.  Combining the efforts of two failing programs is typically not a formula for success.  Perhaps, Konica Minolta’s fab is ready to produce flexible lighting panels and will use Pioneers access to the automotive market in Japan to gain headway.

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