Cost gap between AMOLEDs and LCDs still shrinking

Market news | July 15, 2014

By eeNews Europe

Displays & Interfaces

According to the NPD DisplaySearch OLED Technology Report, manufacturing costs for AMOLED panels are currently 10 to 20 percent higher than for TFT-LCD displays; however, considering the rapid improvement in AMOLED panel production yields, the manufacturing costs for AMOLED mobile phone panels are expected fall below costs for LCD mobile phone panels within the next two years.

Early on, AMOLED panels were expected to cost less than LCD panels, because they do not require backlighting. Instead, production challenges kept AMOLED yields low, and thus costs remained higher than for equivalent LCDs. AMOLED became a high-end product, due to its high color gamut, good contrast, and slimness. Recent production yield improvements are expected to help AMOLED penetrate more broadly into smartphone panels.

“Until recently there have been few breakthroughs in the production of AMOLED displays, and the OLED industry seemed to be facing hard times,” said Jimmy Kim, senior analyst of display materials and LED at NPD DisplaySearch. “If AMOLED costs fall below LCDs, as expected, it would lead to more opportunities for the OLED display industry, greater competition with LCD, and more choices for consumers.”

For example, currently there is a 16 percent cost gap between 5-inch AMOLED and LCD (1920×1080) mobile phone panels, but AMOLED panel costs are expected to fall below LCD panel costs when AMOLED production yields reach 90 percent, which is within sight. If further cost reductions for OLED materials are achieved, then the yield required for AMOLED to be cheaper than LCD will be lower.