Nov 12, 2001

Taiwan is expected to skip Japan and becom the world's largest supplier of organic light emitting diode (OLED) products within the next few years, with at least seven local companies planning or preparing to go into mass production of these items, economic press sources report.

OLED displays are made by sandwhiching an organic polymeter between electrodes, so that the application of a current causes light to be emitted. These displays, especially small-sized ones are seen as the rising start of the display market. While OLED display panels are 50% to 100% more expensive than super twisted nematic liquid crystal displays (STN-LCDs) they are much cheaper than the presently most popular TFT-LCD displays. Thus monochrome OLED displays are expected to replace STN-LCD models soon, and color OLED displays are expected to take at least some of the market away from TFT-LCDs.

The seven above mentioned companies involved are reported to be Ritek Display Technology Corp., and Teco Optronics Corp., which have announced plans to begin mass production at the end of this year and in the first quarter of 2002, respectively. The others are Univision Tech. Inc., a young company that concentrates on OLEDs, OptoTech Corp., a maker of light-emitting diodes (LEDs); AU Optronics Corp., a maker of thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., also a TFT-LCD maker; and Windell Corp., a subsidiary of Wintek Corp. and a maker of OLEDS.

Experts point out the advantages of OLED displays over other types of displays currently on the market: they are self-luminous, obviating the need for backlight modules and color filters; they are lightweight and ultra-thin, junst 1 to 2 mm thick; they are relatively cheap to make; and they have a low drive voltages, which can be between 3 and 9 volts and a low power consumption. In addition, they offer a wide viewing angle of over 160 degress, high luminance ( 100 cd per square meter ) high contrast and resolution in both dark and bright enviroments, and fast response time.

These feature will make OLED displays more and more popular in handheld device applications such as game players, cellphones and cordless phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs), as well as in larger applications such as notebook PCs, information appliacne, monitors, automobile dashboard displays and tabletop TV sets.

Taiwan sources say that because of the bright promise of the OLED industry, at least seven Japanese companies are jumping on the same bandwagon by pursuing this line. Quoting Japanese industry statistics, global production value of OLED displays is expected to soar from the almost US$ 82 million posted last years to US$ 1.1 billion in 2005.

Taiwan makers are reported to be confident about their competitivness in OLED production, despite the fact that it still relies on technology from Japan and USA.
Taiwan's competitiveness derives from the large amount of capital it has for investment, the long-term customer service and production advantages of its optoelectronic industry, and its rapidly growing technology-development capability.

Taiwan's Photonic Industry & Technology Development Association (PITDA) is also optimistic, remarking that just four companies - - Ritek Display, Teco Optronics, Windell, and Univision - - will pour at least the equivalent of US$826 million into the line over the next five years.

The association says that Taiwan's competitiveness will become even stronger if the industry can integrate their production processes with those for low-temperature poly-silicon TFT-LCDs. If the OLED display makers use driver-circuit solutions that are the same as or similar to those of LTPS TFT-LCDs, their products will have higher integrety and be even thinner.