The latest hot news is still closely related to the Rio Olympics. Of course, we are more concerned about the performance of Chinese athletes in the Olympics. However, when seeing China's first gold medal loss and various unsatisfactory news, our audience behaved more maturely than in previous years. They no longer cared so much about the number of gold medals and expressed more understanding, concern and support for the Olympic athletes. I still remember when Liu Xiang withdrew from the competition due to physical reasons. At that time, the Chinese people were angry because they did not understand, did not support and abused Liu Xiang. In contrast, now we have to say we owe Liu Xiang an apology. Times are changing and all walks of life are constantly changing. OLED display technology is just like our audience a few years ago. We need time to slowly mature and grow.
OLED has been a hot star recently. Well-known companies such as Samsung, Apple, and LG are rushing to seize this market. According to data given by a consulting agency, the AMOLED market size is expected to reach US$71.7 billion in 2020, while the previous forecast data given by the agency in 2015 was only US$46 billion. It can also be seen from this that the current rapid development of OLED has shocked the entire industry. OLED is an organic electroluminescent display with the characteristics of autonomous emission. It is made of organic material coating and glass substrate. It is very thin and light. It not only has the characteristics of good color, close to natural light, strong contrast, but also has the characteristic of being flexible, moderately bendable and foldable. It is very convenient.
The light source of LCD comes from the lamp tube in the backlight module, so it is a non-self-luminous component. However, LCD is a newly emerging type in mobile phones, and it still dominates the market. The LED display screen is a display device composed of an arrangement of light-emitting diodes. It has the characteristics of low power consumption, long service life, low cost, high brightness, few faults, large viewing angle, and long viewing distance. The advantages of OLED are more prominent in small-screen mobile phones, TVs, and computer displays. In terms of flexibility, it may be possible to put a TV in a bag in the future and unfold the panel to watch programs anytime and anywhere. Of course, LED is dominant in large-screen displays, and OLED is slightly inferior to LED in terms of technology, lifespan, and price. In comparison, each has its own merits. However, OLED is favored by many companies. Its outstanding advantages and disadvantages also discourage many companies.
As we all know, the OLED industry is technically difficult, has a long R&D and mass production time span, and requires large capital investment. These are the three obstacles that stand in the way of all companies in the OLED industry. Especially in the field of OLED panels, the investment in a panel production line is counted in hundreds of millions of dollars. Except for a few giants, it is difficult for any company to have such strong technical and financial support. Even in the face of many difficulties, it still cannot stop the pursuit of innovation. Looking at the investment projects disclosed by the four major Chinese and Korean manufacturers of Samsung Display, LGD, BOE, and CSOT in the next three years, more than 90% of the investment by Korean companies is in OLED. Samsung will even sell its 7th generation LCD panel factory to shrink the LCD front, and the investment is equivalent to 55 billion yuan to expand OLED production capacity. Japan Display Corporation (JDI) will also invest 50 billion yen to establish a 6th generation OLED panel production line at the Mohara factory in the spring of 2017. It plans to produce 5 million OLED mobile phone screens per month by 2018. Also in April this year, after Sharp was acquired by Hon Hai, it announced that it would invest 200 billion yen in OLED panel production lines.
Because OLED has many "harsh" requirements, it is really difficult for companies in our country to bear them independently. But the OLED market cannot be monopolized by foreign companies. How can our domestic companies enter this market? The domestic AMOLED industry is still in its infancy, and the AMOLED industrialization process in mainland China still has a long way to go. Moreover, world-class large companies such as Samsung and LGD have invested in the AMOLED field for many years, accumulated a large number of technologies and patents, and formed a certain monopoly. It is still unknown whether Chinese OLED companies, which started late, can survive and make profits in the increasingly brutal competition and maintain the competitiveness of their products. The challenges are mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the industrial chain is highly monopolized by Japanese, Korean, and American companies, and China's local industrial chain is still immature, including OLED materials and production equipment, especially evaporation equipment, which are all dependent on imports; second, insufficient accumulation of technology, talent, and patents; third, insufficient reserves of flexible display technology and slow industrialization.
In response to this situation, Chinese companies can develop alliances to share resources, complement each other's advantages, and achieve joint promotion to develop OLED technology and products. Chinese companies must have sufficient production capacity and technical preparations. At least in another five years, when OLED becomes absolutely mainstream, according to the current investment speed and policy support in mainland China, OLED technology should have been greatly improved by then, so that there will be no situation of being passively beaten and controlled by others.
ANNA