Sanyo unveils handset with organic LED display
In mid-January, Sanyo and Eastman Kodak said that they would jointly invest a total of ¥20 billion ($165 million) to boost the production capacity of their joint venture, SK Display. Formed in December 2001, SK Display manufactures next-generation displays using Kodak s patented OLED technology.
Last year, SK Display started small-lot production of OLED displays. Using the new investment, the joint venture plans to establish a monthly production capacity of 1 million 2-inch panels for portable device such as digital still cameras and mobile phones.
Sanyo expects that the market for medium and large-sized panels with a display size of 5.5 inches and larger, for use in equipment such as car navigation systems, will grow rapidly from 2004 onwards. Other applications are closer at hand; consumer giant Philips expects to produce 100,000 electric shavers this year featuring OLED displays.
The Sanyo phone is the first to feature an OLED display since NEC produced its FOMA N2001 phone for NTT DoCoMo in mid-2001. Before that, Motorola s TimePort handset featured an OLED display manufactured by Pioneer, although this was a three-color rather than full-color display.
Compared to liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), OLED screens offer better brightness, contrast and color, and wider viewing angles. They are also thinner, lighter and consume less power than LCDs. However, OLED displays have several drawbacks, including limited lifetimes and higher production costs.
The introduction of full-color OLED displays for mobile phones could affect demand for white LEDs, which are currently used as backlights for full-color LCD panels.
