OLED Display Revenues Expected to Reach $6B in 2015; OLED Lighting Revenues to Surpass PMOLED Displays in 2014

Sort Date: 02192009

AUSTIN, TEXAS, February 19, 2009—While mature segments of the display and electronic industries have experienced declines due to the economic downturn, Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes (AMOLEDs) have  emerged as a diamond in the rough, experiencing an impressive 110% revenue increase in 2008. DisplaySearch shared these findings last week in a webinar to update clients on the state of OLEDs. The company also reported that OLED display revenues will exceed $6 billion in 2015, up from $591 million in 2008.

“AMOLED is making up for the slowdown in PMOLED over the past year,” noted Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, DisplaySearch’s Director of Display Technologies. “Going forward, it will be important for OLEDs to find a niche market where it will be difficult for LCDs for compete, such as flexible or transparent displays, or lighting. OLED developers should also look for opportunities to combine their technology with other hot technologies, such as touch screens.”

OLED displays accounted for less than 1% of total flat panel display revenue in 2008. DisplaySearch forecasts it will reach 5% in 2015, experiencing a 40% CAGR in revenues, compared to the 3% CAGR predicted for the total flat panel display market.

Table 1: OLED Display Forecast 2006-2015

Source: DisplaySearch, February 2009

Additional highlights from the webinar include:

• AMOLED revenues are forecast to surpass PMOLED in 2H'09. In order to succeed, AMOLED manufacturers need to secure large, stable customers and must reduce cost by increasing yields (especially the TFT backplane) and reducing TAC time.
• PMOLED revenues peaked at $450 million in 2006, fell to $390 million in 2007 and fell again to an estimated $370 million in 2008. Diversified products and customers are the key to maintaining shipments.
• OLED lighting has many advantages such as its high energy efficiency, is thin and lightweight; and has area surface lighting in flexible or rigid form factors. However, it still has many hurdles to overcome including high manufacturing costs, ability to mass produce and maintaining energy efficiency and uniformity as the size increases.
• OLED lighting revenue will surpass PMOLED in 2014.

Find out more about the OLED industry at DisplaySearch’s 11th Annual USFPD Conference during the “Emerging Technologies: Breaking Away from the Existing Paradigm” session, featuring presentations from DisplaySearch’s Jennifer Colegrove, as well as Tyco Electronics/Elo TouchSystems, Synaptics, Universal Display Corporation, DuPont Displays and the Eastman Kodak Company. The USFPD Conference will be held March 2-4 in San Diego, California. To view the complete agenda or to register, visit www.displaysearch.com/usfpd.

About DisplaySearch
DisplaySearch, an NPD Group Company, has a core team of 59 employees located in Europe, North America and Asia who produce a valued suite of FPD-related market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses. Visit the DisplaySearch blog to read about how our top analysts are interpreting up-to-the-minute issues that impact the display industry, and join us in this discussion about technology and the flat panel industry. The company also organizes influential events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Houston, Kyoto, London, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at http://www.displaysearch.com/.

About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys and wireless. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com/.