"Low Yield Is a Thing of the Past"... Samsung Display Raises It to 75% in 5 Months

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Samsung Display, a latecomer in the large-sized organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel market, is rapidly overcoming limitations and securing production competitiveness.

According to the IT and electronics industry on the 20th, Samsung Display raised the yield rate (percentage of qualified products) of Quantum Dot (QD) OLED panels, which was only about 50% last November, to around 75% this month. This was achieved just five months after starting QD OLED panel production. Although the yield was low at around 50% in the early mass production stage, drawing criticism in terms of competitiveness, if this pace continues, it is expected to exceed 80% in the first half of the year and reach about 90% within the year.

Industry experts evaluate that Samsung Display, which had focused only on the small and medium-sized OLED market, has entered the large OLED market as a latecomer but is securing production competitiveness faster than expected. QD technology uses a front-lighting method that efficiently utilizes light, providing a simpler and more efficient structure compared to LCDs that require backlighting, resulting in thin and lightweight displays.

As Samsung Display improves the yield of QD OLED panels, the number of panels available for shipment has increased. Samsung Display’s QD OLED production capacity is 30,000 sheets per month based on substrates. One substrate can produce a total of five large TV panels: three 65-inch panels and two 55-inch panels, which translates to an annual production capacity of 1.8 million panels.

When the yield was only about 50%, only 900,000 out of the 1.8 million annual production could be utilized, but with the current yield of 75%, 1.35 million panels can be used. If the yield reaches around 90% within the year, producing 1.62 million TVs annually will be feasible.

The panels produced by Samsung Display are installed in QD OLED TVs that Samsung Electronics has started selling in the United States. Although Samsung Display is not currently considering facility investments to expand production capacity, it is preparing for the possibility that Samsung Electronics may launch QD OLED TVs in Korea or increase the number of launch countries worldwide, thereby increasing orders, as a certain level of yield has been secured.

Meanwhile, Samsung Display is expected to maintain its leading position in the small and medium-sized OLED sector, its core area, by exclusively supplying panels for some lines of the Apple iPhone 14 series to be released in the second half of the year. Some foreign media have reported that Apple will exclusively use Samsung Display panels for the iPhone 14 Pro. While Apple, which seeks to diversify panel suppliers, will use LG Display and China’s BOE panels for some iPhone 14 lines, one or two lines will still use only Samsung Display panels.

An industry official said, "Even though China’s BOE has newly entered the iPhone market, Samsung Display is recognized for its technology by exclusively supplying panels for several iPhone series models and maintaining its industry-leading position, so catching up will not be easy."

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