Samsung creates new OLED technology to lower prices

As manufacturers and consumers alike look forward to the future of OLED technology, the overall price of manufacturing OLEDs is simply too high at the moment… for now.

Samsung Electronics reportedly has created a new production method that will be able to drastically reduce the cost of OLED production, while also increasing screen functionality.

The TV industry now relies Amorphous Silicon TFT — which is expensive and difficult to produce, and has shown to be more likely to fail — when compared to the newer amorphous oxide TFT technology.  The new amorphous oxide TFT can be used for LCDs, OLEDs, LED sensors, thin film solar cells, and other developing technologies.

"In mid and long term, we will be able to expand application to semiconductor peripheral circuits in addition to future display to become key technology to semiconductor devices in the future," said Samsung senior managing director Kim Yung-hwan.

It should prove interesting to see what Samsung is able to do with this new technology in the next few years.  As OLEDs continue to mature, expect similar technological breakthroughs from competing companies.  If the price drops far enough for consumers, expect OLED adoption to really begin to boom in the next five years, according to analysts — though it seems unlikely, at this point in time, that significant price cuts will take place.

Samsung admits OLEDs are still too expensive, but the Korean company is looking towards the future, with OLED product announcements and technology innovation.