The gist of it: let’s be honest, Samsung is playing catch up in automotive. Back at CES 2023, the company announced that it was entering the autonomous vehicle market with the concept design below, a throwback to old time aircraft simulators, and not much of an inspiration for sleek, modern automotive cockpit displays.
Samsung’s Plans for Hybrid OLEDs
According to The Elec, Samsung plans to transition from its traditional rigid OLED panels to a new hybrid OLED technology specifically designed for these applications.
Hybrid OLED panels leverage both glass substrates and thin-film encapsulation (TFE), the latter a feature usually reserved for flexible panels built on a plastic board. This combination creates a design that maintains the robustness of glass while incorporating the flexibility of TFE. Consequently, these hybrid panels can be curved, a capability that is challenging to achieve with conventional rigid OLEDs.
This innovation aligns with the increasing preference for curved panels in the automotive industry, which are known to enhance aesthetic appeal and potentially improve user interfaces. Samsung Display’s shift to mass-producing hybrid OLED panels in their Gen 6 A3 line is a strategic move to cater to this growing market demand.
The Gen 6 A3 production line, which uses larger substrates, allows for the creation of larger panels — up to 30 inches or more. This is particularly relevant as more automotive manufacturers are now asking for larger, unified display panels that can consolidate various features such as dashboards and infotainment systems.
While Samsung is broadening its market reach in the automotive sector with this strategic shift, the company also continues to explore other opportunities, such as manufacturing two-stack tandem, hybrid OLED panels for future Apple notebooks and tablets. This move places Samsung in direct competition with rivals like LG, which already produces similar flexible OLED panels for its automotive clients.
