Samsung Display signed a contract with Microsoft to develop and supply OLED on silicon (OLEDoS) for the latter’s mixed reality (MR) device, TheElec has learned.
The South Korean display maker is expected to supply hundreds of thousands of units, sources said.
Microsoft was developing the MR device for use in games and multimedia content like movies rather than the Metaverse, they also said.
The MR device is expected to launch only after the specification of the OLEDoS is finalized, then supplied to the US company, which means commercial launch will happen at 2026 at the earliest, they added.
Samsung Display formed a team called M Project late last year that focuses on developing OLEDoS technology.
The M stands for micro as in microdisplay __ small displays aimed at use in reality devices. Executive vice president Jaebeom Choi is head of the Micro Display Team at Samsung Display and is also leading M Project.
Samsung Display is also collaborating with Samsung System LSI, the logic business unit of Samsung, in the development of OLEDoS.
Samsung System LSI designs the silicon board for the OLEDoS. The wafer itself is manufactured by Samsung Foundry, the contract chip-making business unit of Samsung.
The wafers are then delivered to Samsung Display’s A1 facility at Cheonan, where the display maker deposits organic material on the wafers and makes them go through the encapsulation process.
The wafers is then returned to Samsung System LSI which place color filter and micro lens array (MLA) on the wafer. This wafer is then sent back to Samsung Display for the final encapsulation process, and then they are made into modules.
Samsung Display plans to handle the color filter and MLA work on its own if it sees an increased supply of OLEDoS.
Meanwhile, Samsung MX Business, the conglomerate’s smartphone business unit, had received OLEDoS samples from Samsung Display for its own MR device but ultimately chose Sony as its OLEDoS supplier.
This has put pressure on Samsung Display to succeed in its collaboration with Microsoft so that it can win Samsung MX Business as its customer.
