Taiwan Institute of Economic Research
21June 2008
Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Panels
Ref. Code: 11461 21 June 2008 By Ceng Chun-chou
Overview
Encouraged by a good performance of organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a large number of Taiwan firms have aggressively developed OLED products in recent years. But a bottleneck in technology has led to no major breakthrough in capacity, resulting in firms’ long-term losses and compelling some to stop research and development on OLED panels. AU Optronics’ long time commitment to OLED research and development, for example, has just faded away. In November 2006, Opto Tech Corporation dismantled its OLED panel unit, and Teco Optronic Corporation withdrew from OLED market in May 2008. On the contrary, Chi Mei EL Corporation, one of the subsidiaries of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, continued to expand capacity. In the second quarter of 2007 Chi Mei EL Corporation carried out mass production of 2.4 and 2.8 inch OLED panels for mobile phones. Meanwhile, RiTdisplay Corporation, Taiwan’s largest OLED panel maker by market share, enjoyed strong sales growth in 2007. Additionally, AU Optronics, Opto Tech Corporation, among others’ withdrawal from OLED panel production in 2006 gave OLED panel industry a boost in 2007. Consequently, the value of output shot up 46.8 percent from a year earlier. Ironically, output proceeds amounted to a modest NT$6.34 billion, a clear indication of small market size (see table 1).
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Taiwan Industry Reports
Taiwan Institute of Economic Research
21June 2008