Nikkei Asian Review/Katora Hosokawa: Japan enters display fray with world's first printed OLED panels

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December 6, 2017 7:23 pm JST
Japan enters display fray with world's first printed OLED panels

Maker JOLED enters a crowded market, but is hobbled by a lack of funds

By KOTARO HOSOKAWA, Nikkei staff writer

JOLED's panels are relatively lightweight and exhibit excellent color reproduction, making them suited for rail cars and aircraft among other uses.

TOKYO -- The world's first organic light-emitting diode panels produced by inkjet printing have finally hit the market. JOLED, the Japanese maker of the unique panels, is sending its initial shipment to Sony for use in medical monitors.

The company, established in 2014 by Panasonic and Sony, is looking to carve out a place in the burgeoning OLED market currently dominated by South Korean manufacturers.

Lack of funds, however, could hamstring JOLED's efforts to mass produce its product.

10 years in the making

JOLED's panels are made using inkjet printing, a breakthrough that markedly reduces manufacturing costs. Research and development into the process was launched by Panasonic about 10 years ago.

It differs from the technique used by the Korean companies which involves thermal evaporation in a vacuum. Inkjet printing is considered more difficult, but will be cheaper if successful.

Yoneharu Takubo, chief technology officer of JOLED, speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday about the world's first commercially available OLED panels produced by inkjet printing.

"We now are off the starting blocks" as regards production of printed OLED panels on a commercial basis, said Yoneharu Takubo, chief technology officer of JOLED, at a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
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"Our strength lies in being the only company that has the all the component technologies for producing printed panels under one roof," Takubo said.

The panels are relatively lightweight and exhibit excellent color reproduction, making them well-suited for a wide range of devices and environments, like broadcasting equipment, rail cars and aircraft.

"We may supply them to TV panel makers as well," Takubo said.

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Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp., Japan Display, Inc., Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp.  
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    A limping Japan Display scrambles to join the OLED party

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