Nikkei reported that the plan by Foxconn and Sharp to mass produce OLEDs by 2018 may be delayed and may now be implemented in the Sakai Display Products production line, rather than in the Kameyama plant in Mie prefecture. Nikkei suggests that one of the issues for Sharp is the availability of appropriate production equipment. The Japanese paper has also reported that it was told by Sharp that the company wants to collaborate with Japan Display Industries (JDI) to more effectively compete internationally. (later in the week, JDI said that it has no plan to do this and that there have been no discussions with Sharp about this)
Separately, Wang Jyh-Chau, chairman of Innolux, which is also owned by Foxconn, said at Touch Taiwan that Taiwanese companies will struggle to compete with Chinese and Korean companies in developing OLEDs, because of limited government support. He said that while Chinese companies with government support could afford a loss-making stage to enter the market, Taiwanese companies could not do that. At the event, there was speculation that Foxconn might combine its OLED activities in Innolux and Sharp.
Analyst Comment
It has been widely said that one of the key reasons that LG has been unable to get into the small OLED market is because Samsung has such tight contracts with its equipment suppliers about who and what they can supply. (BR)
