UDC, an American OLED material manufacturer, said that the company will commercialize blue phosphorescent OLED materials in 2024. After red and green, blue phosphorescent materials are also used in mass production, which will help greatly improve the efficiency and performance of OLED displays. In addition, UDC also expects that when the penetration rate of OLED panels in the smartphone market reaches 50%, there will be a wave of investment in medium and large OLED panels.
According to Korean media Thelec, according to industry news on February 28, UDC recently stated in a conference call after the release of its fourth-quarter results last year that the company has made progress in the research and development of blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials, and It will be commercialized in 2024.
The light-emitting methods of OLED panels are mainly divided into two types, namely phosphorescence and fluorescence. The phosphorescence method utilizes both 25% of the energy of light emission (excited state → ground state), namely "singlet exciton", and the remaining 75% of "triplet exciton", so Internal luminous efficiency can be as high as 100%. In contrast, the fluorescence method uses only singlet excitons, and the internal luminous efficiency is only at the level of 25%.
Among the three primary colors of light (red, green, and blue), red and green phosphorescent materials have been mass-produced on OLED displays. However, blue phosphorescent materials have always exposed weaknesses in terms of color purity and lifespan, so in commercial OLED displays, blue fluorescent materials are commonly used. OLED display products on the market generally use red, green phosphorescent materials and blue fluorescent materials.
In the conference call, UDC stated that "UDC continues to make excellent progress in the development of blue phosphorescent materials", and said that "by the end of this year, blue phosphorescent materials are expected to reach the initial target specifications", and then said that "By 2024, the commercialization of OLED displays consisting of phosphorescent materials in red, green, and blue will be realized." "Commercializing all three colors into phosphorescent materials will create high-efficiency and high-performance OLED applications. more diverse opportunities."
UDC predicts that the application of blue phosphorescent materials will bring changes in backplane technology, and it will take time to expand the application of blue phosphorescent materials. In addition, UDC has not disclosed the development of specific blue phosphorescent materials.
In addition, UDC also predicts that when the market penetration rate of OLED displays for smartphones reaches 50% (ie 675 million units), investment plans for medium and large OLED displays will begin to take shape. Last year, in the smartphone market, the market penetration rate of OLED panels was over 40%. Several market research companies predict that the penetration rate of OLEDs in the smartphone market will rise to around 45% this year. Medium size refers to IT products such as laptops and tablets, and large size refers to TV applications. At present, in the IT panel market, the OLED penetration rate is 2%, and in the TV panel market, the OLED penetration rate is only 3%.
UDC's sales last year reached a record high of US$554 million (about 3.5 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 29%. Operating profit was US$228 million (approximately RMB 1.44 billion), a year-on-year increase of 45%. Operating margin was 41%. This year's sales forecast is 625 million to 650 million US dollars (about 3.94 billion to 4.10 billion yuan).
The phosphorescence method utilizes both 25% of the energy of light emission (excited state → ground state), namely "singlet exciton", and the remaining 75% of "triplet exciton", so Internal luminous efficiency up to 100%.