Samsung Display likely to build Gen 8.5 OLED line with 15,000 substrate capacity first
Company likely to install new line at defunct L8 Aimed at Apple's tablets and PCs
Samsung Display is likely to build its first Gen 8.5 OLED line with a capacity of 15,000 substrates per month, TheElec has learned.
Gen 8.5 (2200x2500mm) substrates are larger than the Gen 6 (1500x1850mm) used widely for smartphones.
This means it is more efficient and productive for making larger OLED panels aimed at IT products such as tablets and notebooks.
Samsung Display will decide on its final spending plan within the year and likely start ordering production equipment for the Gen 8.5 line next year, sources said.
The equipment will likely be placed in the now defunct L8-1-2 line, which was used to manufacture liquid crystal displays up to last year.
Samsung Display initially planned to start building the line faster.
But the development of full-cut, vertical deposition equipment for Gen 8.5, which it is developing with Japan’s Ulvac, is likely taking longer than expected.
The company is also still considering half-cut, horizontal deposition equipment for Gen 8.5.
Sources said it could go for half-cut, vertical deposition equipment as well. Full cut means that Samsung Display will deposit the organic materials on the substrate without cutting it in half, like it does for smartphone panels right now. The cutting is done so that the fine metal masks used to deposit the organic materials don’t need to be larger, which makes it prone to sagging.
LG Display is also developing Gen 8.5 equipment with South Korea’s Sunic System that does deposition half-cut and horizontally.
The line is aimed at Apple, which is planning to adopt OLED panels more for its tablets and PC lineups.
If Cupertino decides to more widely adopt them going forward, Samsung Display will likely invest to add another 15,000 substrates per month in capacity.
The new Gen 8.5 line will likely start production in 2024. Apple’s first OLED tablets __ which will come in 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes, will utilize Samsung Display and LG Display’s existing Gen 6 lines.
Meanwhile, Samsung Display is planning to convert L8-2-2, which is also defunct, to a quantum dot(QD)-OLED line, which will likely be called Q2.
It could however build a quantum dot nanorod LED (QNED) line for Q2 instead if demand is there from Samsung Electronics. It has already delayed the building of a pilot line for QNED once.
Q1 line is already active in parts of L8-1-1 and L8-2-2 lines, with a monthly capacity of 30,000 substrates for QD-OLED panels aimed at TVs.