New n-tech Research Projects OLED Materials Market Will Surge Tenfold to $9 Billion by 2022

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Jul 13, 2015, 10:20 ET

GLEN ALLEN, Va., July 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In a newly released report, industry analyst firm n-tech Research projects the market for OLED materials at roughly $970 million in 2015, exceeding $4.4 billion by 2020, and $9.7 billion by 2022. The report titled, "OLED Materials Markets 2015-2022: Momentum and Opportunities" continues the firm tenth year of covering OLEDs. Additional details including a downloadable excerpt, are available at: http://ntechresearch.com/market_reports/oled-materials-markets-2015-2022-momentum-and-opportunities

About the Report:

n-tech Research has watched expectations for the OLED materials space swing forwards and backwards over the past eight years, in step the broader markets for OLED panels. In this latest report, we identify where the opportunities are in the OLED materials business today and over the next eight years.

This report includes estimates and projections of OLED shipments and manufacturing capacity, and how these will likely translate into materials requirements. This report includes detailed volume and eight-year revenue forecasts, broken out by application, material type, functionality, and deposition method (where possible and appropriate).

We also examine the core strategies of leading players in the OLED materials space, including technology differentiation and key partnerships. Companies discussed in this report include: Apple, AU Optronics, BASF, BOE Display, Cheil Industries/Novaled, China Star Optoelectronics (CSOT), Corning, Cynora, Doosan Corp. Electro-Materials, Dow Chemical, Duksan Hi-Metal, DuPont, EverDisplay, FlexEnable, Guangzhou New Vision, Henkel, Heraeus, Idemitsu Kosan, Japan Display Inc., Kateeva, Konica Minolta, LG Chemical, LG Display, Merck/EMD, Mitsubishi Chemical, Nippon Glass (NEG), Nippon Steel & Sumikin Chemical, OLEDWorks, Osram, Panasonic, Pixelligent, Samsung Display, Seiko Epson, Sony, Sumitomo, Sun Fine Chem/Hodogaya, TCL Group, Universal Display (UDC), and Visionox.

Highlights from the Report:

Among end markets, we continue to see some positive developments in some segments (mobile devices, wearable electronics) but some uncertainty in others (TVs and lighting). We also are watching the emergence of many important technical trends that are being driven by smaller firms.
Pricing pressures and discounts for key OLED materials are common, and will only worsen with the expiration of key IP over the next few years. This can be offset to an extent through development of novel value-added materials, including better-performing emitters.
One such area of hot pursuit is developing a better (deep) blue PHOLED emitter and host material, the last piece of the puzzle for a completely phosphorescent OLED with maximized performance potential. Whoever solves this problem is going to generate significant revenue.
Another example of novel OLED materials development is thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), which promises very high efficiencies and avoids use of iridium—and could also solve the blue emitter riddle—though there are questions about its degradation and temperature sensitivity.
Whether OLEDs can be effectively solution-processed is an old debate that shows no signs of going away. Recent progress seems to bring this slightly closer to production readiness.
Improvements also are happening in flexible substrates and encapsulation, though the jury's still very much out on which if any options will prove worthy of commercially produced OLED panels in the near future.
So much of OLED materials demand is controlled by Samsung, and to a lesser extent LG, that any suppliers need to understand where they fit into those supply chains—and against each firm's in-house supply capabilities (Novaled/Cheil and LG Chem). That said, there are opportunities arising, notably from China.

About n-tech Research:

n-tech Research is the leading provider of market research and industry analysis for the OLED market with coverage dating back to 2006. Visit http://www.ntechresearch.com for a full listing of the firm's services.

SOURCE n-tech Research