X TCL Technology: 30 billion yen to invest in JOLED to accelerate the mass production of printed OLEDs

TCL Technology issued an announcement. In order to accelerate the industrialization process in the field of new Display technology, improve the ecological layout of new displays, and establish a world-leading competitive advantage, TCL Huaxing, a subsidiary of the company, signed an investment agreement with JOLED on June 19, 2020, and plans to invest 300 100 million yen (about 2 billion yuan) strategically invested in JOLED, and the two parties will carry out in-depth technical cooperation in the field of printing OLED.

Printing OLED will solve the bottleneck of large-scale process, flexible new display attracts industry expectations

The “printed OLED” technology mentioned in the announcement has attracted much market attention in recent years, and it is a technological highland that many panel leaders have invested heavily in and strive to seize. It is understood that, different from the evaporation OLED manufacturing process using large-scale vacuum evaporation equipment, the printed OLED technology adopts a scheme similar to inkjet printing to accurately drop the luminescent material onto the substrate. While improving the utilization efficiency of the luminescent material, due to the device structure Significant simplification can significantly shorten manufacturing time and improve manufacturing efficiency.

The current evaporation OLED process is relatively mature in small-sized panels such as mobile phones, but in medium and large-sized products, on the one hand, with the increase in product size, material waste further magnifies the cost pressure; on the other hand, the precise masking required by the evaporation process Template (FMM), because it is difficult to improve the precision in the manufacture of large-scale products, which brings process bottlenecks. Printing OLED technology can better solve the above problems of vapor deposition OLED, reduce manufacturing costs, and accelerate the penetration of OLED large-scale market. Moreover, since it does not require a high-temperature processing environment, the printed display technology has natural compatibility in the manufacture of flexible screens. With the promotion of the wave of 5G, AI, and the Internet of Things, flexible OLED displays are expected to usher in explosive growth in the medium and large size fields. The industry generally believes that printed OLEDs are an important technology to improve the mass production efficiency of flexible screens.

Establish strategic commanding heights in key technical links to improve process, material and device layout

The JOLED invested by TCL Technology is a pioneer in the field of printed display in Japan. It has a long-term dominant position in the fields of core display equipment and materials. In recent years, it has also maintained a keen sense of smell in the technical outlet of printing display. In 2015, Japanese panel leaders such as SONY and Panasonic integrated their OLED departments and established JOLED as a joint venture, focusing on the R&D and production of printed OLED panels. In 2016, JOLED took the lead in launching the construction of a printing and display trial production line. After several years of technical improvement, in November 2019, JOLED officially built the world’s first 5.5-generation printed OLED production line and became the first manufacturer to supply printed OLED panels.

In fact, TCL Technology also has a layout in the field of printing OLED. In 2014, TCL Technology cooperated with scientific research universities and industrial companies to establish Guangdong Juhua, and obtained the only “National Printing and Flexible Display Innovation Center” qualification in China. From 2019 to 2020, Guangdong Juhua and TCL Huaxing have successively developed the world’s first 31-inch inkjet printing H-QLED display prototype and the world’s first 31-inch inkjet printing rollable flexible prototype. Global attention.

In addition, TCL Technology has also made major breakthroughs in the field of new OLED key materials and quantum dot electroluminescent materials. Among them, some OLED materials with independent IP have achieved mass production, and the number of published patents in the field of QLED electroluminescence ranks second in the world. performance breakthrough.

Improve the construction of new display ecology and accelerate the development and mass production of printing and display processes

Domestic panel companies represented by TCL Technology, after years of hard work, have established global leadership in scale, efficiency and technology in the field of LCD panels. According to Sigmaintell data, in 2020, the share of LCD TV panel production capacity of panel makers in mainland China will account for 53% of the world’s total. TCL CSOT and BOE will become the two largest panel factories in the world, together accounting for more than 50% of the global share, and the industry concentration will increase significantly.

While domestic panel companies are at the forefront of the world in the LCD field, they are catching up with South Korea in the field of small-size vapor-deposited OLEDs. TCL Technology has achieved a leading edge in the field of next-generation printed OLEDs through the “self-research + cooperation” model.

As Li Dongsheng, chairman of TCL Technology, said, currently only Samsung Display, Japan’s JOLED and TCL Huaxing have in-depth research on printed display technology in the world, “If we can seize the opportunity in printed display technology, we can break South Korea’s large size monopoly in the OLED field and become a leader in new technologies.”

The development of any new technology is inseparable from the support and linkage of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. Through this cooperation with JOLED, TCL CSOT has realized the construction of an ecological alliance with key players in the industrial chain such as printing equipment manufacturers Panasonic and SCREEN, Sumitomo Chemical in the material field, SONY and Panasonic in the terminal, DENSO and Toyota Tsusho in the vehicle and other key players in the industrial chain. The industrial production of printed display technology has established a strong upstream and downstream foundation, and can also radiate technology and product cooperation in other fields.

Through in-depth technical cooperation, both parties can reduce the comprehensive investment and risk of new displays, jointly lead the technological development trend, and help accelerate the improvement of the printing and display industry ecology. The powerful combination of TCL Technology and JOLED is expected to accelerate the realization of industrial mass production of printed OLED technology from all aspects of materials, equipment, processes, and products.