Jin-oh Kwak will likely be the new person in charge of the project
Samsung Display is in hurry to prepare for the technology report for the leader of Samsung Group.
According to industry sources, on 4th, Jae-Yong Lee, the Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, will be revisiting Samsung Display business locations on 14th to receive reports on the technology development and investment direction of the Quantum Dot(QD) color filter-based large Organic Light Emitting Diodes(OLED) panel. After this report, the overall picture for the direction of the investment may be determined, according to the sources.
Vice Chairman Lee has visited Samsung Display business locations several times this year.
It was reported that he received reports on the QD OLED panel for TVs from the management including CEO Dong-hoon Lee under the subject of ‘next generation product development status and investment strategies’ (related article “Plan Large OLED without Setbacks”... A special order from Vice Chairman Jae-Yong Lee)
Early this year, he visited a Samsung Display business location to get reports on pending issues immediately after being released from prison. At that time, it was reported that he ordered ‘inspection of large OLED business.’ It is rare for Vice Chairman Lee to visit a business location three times in a year and receive reports. Thus, inside and outside of Samsung, it is believed that Vice Chairman Lee is highly interested in the large QD OLED panel sector.
It was also reported that the person in charge of the QD OLED project would be changed. Until now, Mr. Gab-soo Han, the Vice President of Samsung Display, oversaw the project. From now on, it has been reported that Mr. Jin-oh Kwak, the Vice President who used to be the Head of the Display Research Center, will propel the commercialization of QD OLED. The empty seat at the Head of the Display Research Center will be taken by Mr. Chang-hee Lee, the Vice President (a former professor at Seoul National University), who joined Samsung Display last August.
The Image Display Business Department that is responsible for the TV business at Samsung Display and Samsung Electronics has never been involved in the mass production of OLED TV panels, although it announced OLED TV panels and completed prototypes to the public many years ago. This is different from what LG Display and LG electronics do. It is likely Vice Chairman Lee has determined that the switch to large OLED products capable of spontaneous emission is inevitable to grab the premium TV market.
The QD OLED, which is currently slated for mass production by Samsung Display, is a technology that can not only reduce the production cost but also increase color reproducibility using a QD color filter by putting blue light emitting materials on oxide-based thin film transistor (TFT) board. Thus, it is applying the characteristics of QD being Photo Luminescence (PL) when the light touches to the OLED color filter.
Recently, Samsung Display has ordered parts for the essential production equipment required for operating the pilot line at L8-1, the 8 generations LCD production line, in Tangjeong Asan-city Chungnam. The issue is whether it can operate a mega-scale line above 10 generations. To secure a competitive edge in production costs in the market of premium 65 inches or larger TVs, 8th generation TVs are not sufficient. Therefore, it is being estimated whether ‘direct progress towards 10 generations line’ would be possible. When it is determined that such a move is difficult, the whole L8 line may be switched to 8 generations QD OLED first.
It is expected that various secondary equipment businesses would benefit if the investment on QD OLED by Samsung Display accelerates; however, the industry is estimating that struggles are inevitable due to the high level of technical difficulty. Tentatively, the equipment of Wonik IPS and Applied Materials for TFT and the metalizing equipment of Canon Tokki, and the inkjet equipment of Semes for color filter production will be utilized. For the encapsulation process which protects the organic matter from water and oxygen, it has been reported as not determined whether TFE technique like mobiles will be used.
In case of LG Display, Jusung Engineering and Applied Materials provide oxide TFT, Yas provides metalizing equipment, and Jusung Engineering and LG Electronics Material Production Engineering Research Institute (PRI) provides equipment for metalizing.