Samsung's shiny new OLED display factory opens for business

Mark May 31st 2011 in your calendars, folks! Samsung Mobile Display announced today that its long-awaited 5.5-Gen OLED display factory is starting production, two months ahead of schedule, despite the delay concerns that stemmed from the Japanese earthquake.

The factory is able to produce much larger glass substrates with the new production lines that began installing back in 2010, and the initial capacity of those substrate sheets will be about 24 000 per month, slowly ramping the output up into 2012. This will make AMOLED screens cost-competitive due to the sheer economy of scale. Moreover, the factory is arguably capable to introduce the laser-based LITI production method, which brings AMOLED displays of high resolution (300ppi +), at much lower costs per panel.

We'll see how this pans out, and what high-res screen will go into the Samsung Galaxy S III next year, but in the meantime Samsung will probably need most of what it can make for the Samsung Galaxy S II, which is a sales hit so far. This excellent Android handset broke all sales records in Samsung's home turf, South Korea, and is reportedly selling better than the iPhone 4 in the UK now.

It is not yet available on carriers in the US, but that situation should be changing this summer. Anyhow, we can't wait for the AMOLED technology to start unwrapping its true possibilities, and with the new factory Samsung will be able to increase production of those vivid displays tenfold. For now it is focusing on satiating demand for smartphone AMOLED screens, but the press release states tablets and game consoles are also on the production roadmap. Those dark times with OLED display shortages only seem like a bad dream now.

Thanks, Erik!

source: Samsung (translated) via OLED-Display