Vertical Divider

Samsung Display’s Private Booth
January 14, 2019 

Samsung took the CES opportunity to announce that they have signed a contract with a Chinese car maker (unnamed) to use the digital cockpit system (2018 version we believe) in their production models in 2021 and a contract with a European car maker (unnamed) that will go into production vehicles in 2022 and have developed an antenna design for their systems that brings the antenna inside the car, rather than outside, which they intend to market separately.
 
The commercialization illustrates the time it takes to penetrate the automotive market, with the initial January 2018 model being designed in to cars in 2021 and the updated version in 2022.  With a number of display companies publicizing their expanded offerings or entry into the automotive market, investors should be aware that the design cycles for the automotive space, even though they have shortened in recent years, are far longer than the accelerated cycles of the display business.  
 

Figure 1: Samsung Digital Cockpit - Current Version

Source: Samsung Display

​Samsung also had a number of prototypes that it demonstrated in the small/medium form factor:
 

• LTPO active matrix –- Consists of a backplane with both oxide and LTPS TFTs. The company claimed the display used 85% of the power in an LTPS only display. It should be released in Q319 and Samsung said they already had a customer, which we believe is Apple as they have been requesting the technology for some time. 
• External Compensation – Most AMOLED displays use some form of compensation internally to adjust for the change in gate voltage.  External compensation is embedded in a separate chip, probably combined with the driver that adjusts in real time for the aging of the OLED, which is accomplished by increasing the driving current. This capability is not required for smartphone as there is little report of any imaging sticking. But OLED TVs have been criticized severely for the problem and firmware modification to mediate the problem has largely caused unintended consequences such as flashing and blocking. It looks like Samsung is preparing for the QD/OLED, which uses blue OLED material, which has relatively short lifetimes and could be subject to image sticking. The target date was also Q319.
• Flexible Glass – Samsung is testing flexible glass that has a minimum curvature ratio of 3 mm. While flexible glass may not be used for foldable displays, it could be used in iPhone XS or Galaxy S smartphones.  The benefit is the elimination of TFE, as the glass should provide a proper barrier. 
• Transparent (40%) – Samsung showed a number of prototypes that they are ready commercialize the technology, if the proper app is identified. For example they showed a transparent head up OLED display that was embedded between two pieces of windshield glass. The solution uses less space and power than current projector versions.

 
Samsung also demonstrated an 8K TV, but did not feature QDs. As indicated, there were no QD/OLEDs and all of the hoopla regarding the micro LEDs was in their booth sponsored primarily by Samsung Visual. 

Correction on 01/20/19
                                              
Last week, we mentioned that Samsung showed a prototype smartphone display that replaced the LTPS backplane with an LTPO backplane and indicated it was scheduled for release in mid-2019. The availability was actually listed as mid -2020. We also missed mentioning Samsung’s two products with holograph displays; a smartphone and a smart speaker.  The smart speaker was exceptional in that it was embedded in a glass case and could be seen from 360° in 3D.