OLED, Paper Displays $10.2 Bln by 2011?

May 5, 2006 By Geoff Duncan

Research firm NanoMarkets forecasts the global market for OLED and Paper-like displays will reach $10.2 billion by 2011.

Virginia-based research firm NanoMarkets is forecasting that the market for Organic LED (OLED) and paper-like displays will grow to some $10.2 billion worldwide by the year 2011, and grow to $14.7 billion by the year 2013.

Organic LED, or OLED, displays are not made of semi-conductors like traditional LEDs, but from much smaller carbon-based molecules which can be printed on media and substrates. OLED displays do not require a backlight and, thus, consume far less power than traditional LCD displays. A number of technologies exist for paper-like displays, with the most common to-date tiny colored spheres suspended between layers of film: electrical charges sent through the film cause the spheres to rotate, showing a light side or dark side (or, in some cases, a “grey” made up of half-dark, half-light).

NanoMarkets foresees that decreasing cost to manufacture OLED and paper displays combined with increased production capacity will transform the signage and advertising industries, enabling retailers to constantly update things like shelf-edge displays. OLED technology will also soon have the resolution and color capability to enter the television and video market; NanoMarkets believes OLED televisions will account for $2.2 billion in revenue in 2011 and begin seriously cutting into the LCD television market. Other key markets for OLED and paper-like displays include mobile computing and consumer electronics devices.

Showing 7 comments

Ron Mertens at 3:04am 29th November 2006 I agree that 5 years from now is a long time. Meanwhile, many companies are funding OLED Lighting research, and we see constant improvement in the quality and lifetime.

http://www.oled-info.com/oledForLighting
wes at 3:03pm 9th May 2006 5 years from now is pretty far away. tech paves the way for more tech. its gonna be pretty awesome.. unfathomable, even. just try telling '2001wes' about 2.6ghz,1gig ram, and lcd mons being common-place and he'll probably flip out and drop his wired-ball-mouse. exciting!
wjr at 11:46am 9th May 2006 Don't expect OLED displays to be like paper. Keep in mind that the "operating distance" e.g. the space between the top lead and the bottom lead of a pixel needs to be between 70 and 90 nM for current OLED structures to work.

OLED's need to be built between two rigid pieces of optical glass if you expect them to last any time at all.

At the present time OLED displays are small (2 to 4" diagonal), expensive and have a short life.

BTW, these same consultants claim that the current 65 to 70 bn$ display industry will get to about $100 bn by the end of the decade.

Best,
wjr
lance at 9:21pm 8th May 2006 I think it will grow that large.. If it truely is a paper display.... I would think that the cost to the user would be a very cheap idea...

Only problem is OLEDs have a life expectancy... so for consumers to buy them, the cost would have to be WAY down.... like 100$ for a 27 inch OLED paper monitor that will last you 1 year...

that would still be much better then blowing 800 dollars for a 21inch 1600x1200 LCD monitor that lasts you 4 years max.. ... everybody wins this way... paper monitor distributors earn money, you get a new cutting edge display... the power company doesnt get your money, you save the planet by eco-friendly monitor.

And if the cost were right, I would even be willing to plunk down money on a semi yearly 50 inch paper display to watch 1080p tv on :P
fyngyrz at 8:50pm 8th May 2006 It could easily hit 10 billion if it can reach either (or both) a price and preformance point that surpasses LCD, Plasma and so on. Just look at the global market for televisions, then transfer those dollars to the OLED market. Then add all the new, low-power applications. Book readers; newspapers, etc, especially if it reaches new extremes of low power consumption... it'll be everywhere. Store signs, the heels of your sneakers, the forehead of your children, your credit card, magazine pages... 10 billion seems conservative to me IF it lives up to the hype, price and performance wise. fyngyrz, from digg.com
Joseph at 12:53pm 8th May 2006 I think these research firms shoot this crap out to help boister the stock market sometimes. $10 billion is really unrealistic to me.
Ian Bell and Dan Gaul at 12:51pm 8th May 2006 Like I mentioned on Digg.com I really do not think that within a 5 year span this market will grow to be that large. We are already half-way through 2006 and there really isn't anything out there yet. I think it's a great technology though. What do you guys think?