What Display Daily thinks: By all accounts, China’s investment in materials development has increased dramatically over the last three years. That includes research at academic levels, corporate R&D, and general venture investments.
These recent events by Tianma, TCL CSOT, BOE, and Visionox point to a bullish framing of Chinese OLED capabilities, and have the support of an equally aggressive grouping of clients in EV production, smartphones, and TVs.
An old colleague of mine who deals in battery technology for electric vehicles was telling me about far ahead Chinese manufacturers were than Europe and the US, based on his own attempts to acquire products for his own company’s projects. When it comes to OLED materials, there is a race to match up against the capabilities of LG and Samsung. To be fair, this is a war between treacle and molasses, based on the length of time it takes to full develop and reach production on these products, but there’s just not much that Korea, Europe, and the US have to compare to the supporting network for China’s display industry, meaning the smartphones, the EVs, and the TV makers.
An America first trade policy will open up almost all other markets to China, and the closed loop of support that Chinese display manufacturers have gives them a very strong position no matter what trade barriers the US ends up erecting against the country. Maybe we can think of possible changes in trade policy as accelerating Chinese display manufacturers’ ascendance to market domination in OLED. It certainly looks like the foot is on the accelerator for Chinese industry.
Visionox Unveils Next-Generation F1 Luminescent Material System
Visionox hosted a “Extraordinary Chinese Screen” event last week where it announced the F1 luminescent “material system.” The company highlighted its cumulative shipment of 240 million display units—enough screens to circle the Earth—and celebrated over 20 global firsts and more than 50 pioneering achievements in the industry. Yes, events like the one hosted by Visionox are common for Chinese companies
Among its milestones, Visionox claims to have developed China’s first flexible devices, including PMOLED and AMOLED displays in both monochrome and full color. It introduced the world’s first 180-degree foldable flexible AMOLED module, fully modular foldable screens, and China’s first flexible AMOLED device capable of 360-degree folding. The company also released the world’s first mass-producible under-screen camera solution, a flexible AMOLED pocket-sized rollable projection screen, and a flexible AMOLED rollable laptop solution. Visionox pioneered technologies like the 260Hz ultra-high refresh rate and intelligent pixelation technology (ViP), solidifying its position as an industry leader.
The new F1 material claims to offer significant enhancements, including a 10% increase in device efficiency, a 22% extension in screen lifespan, a 50% improvement in viewing angle color accuracy, and a 10% reduction in harmful blue light emissions. Visionox describes F1 as its most advanced OLED screen solution to date, achieving multiple performance improvements simultaneously.
Xiaomi, vivo, Transsion, Honor, and Oppo also attended the F1 launch event. Make of that what you will. One thing is for sure, looking at the supply chain for OLED materials, most of the big players are likely to be hampered by any threatened trade disagreements between the incoming Trump administration and China. Will that dampen growth among China’s display manufacturers? Probably, but they seem to be prepared for it. They have had plenty of practice and warning to ready themselves.
| Material Category | Company | Location | Market Position | Influence Level | Competitive Advantage |
| Phosphorescent Emitter Materials | Universal Display Corp. (UDC) | United States | Market leader in red and green PHOLED emitters | Extensive patent portfolio; licensing agreements with major OLED manufacturers | Significant influence over PHOLED market; essential supplier for high-efficiency red and green emitters |
| Fluorescent Blue Emitter Materials | Idemitsu Kosan | Japan | Major supplier of blue fluorescent emitters | Technological expertise; strategic partnerships with panel manufacturers | Holds significant market share in blue emitter materials; contributes to full-color OLED displays |
| Host Materials for Emissive Layers | Merck KGaA | Germany | Leading supplier of host materials | Comprehensive product range; global supply network | Key player in host materials; supplies multiple OLED manufacturers worldwide |
| Charge Transport & Injection Materials | Merck KGaA, LG Chem, Samsung SDI | Germany; South Korea | Significant suppliers of HTL and ETL materials | Advanced materials development; global supply networks | Strongly positioned due to technological expertise and relationships with manufacturers |
| Encapsulation Materials & Technologies | Samsung SDI, Toppan Printing Co., 3M | South Korea; Japan; United States | Key suppliers of encapsulation materials and technologies | Innovation in encapsulation methods; integration with display manufacturing ecosystems | Important in providing encapsulation solutions for OLEDs; critical for device durability |
| Solution-Processable OLED Materials | Sumitomo Chemical Co., | Japan | Leading developer of solution-processable OLED materials | Pioneering technology; significant patent holdings | Influential in enabling cost-effective, large-area OLED manufacturing |
| TADF Materials (Emerging Technology) | Cynora, Kyulux | Germany; Japan | Active developers in TADF material development | Innovative approaches; strategic investments | Potential to impact market if commercially viable; currently under development |
| Substrate Materials | Corning, Nippon Electric Glass (NEG) | United States; Japan | Leading suppliers of glass substrates | Advanced glass technologies; global manufacturing capabilities | Strong market positions in glass substrates; competition exists, especially in flexible substrates |
| Flexible Substrate Materials | Kaneka Corporation, Kolon Industries, Sumitomo Chemical Co. | Japan; South Korea | Significant suppliers of flexible substrates | Advanced materials; industry collaborations | Important players in flexible substrates; competitive market |
| Charge Blocking Layer Materials | Merck KGaA, JSR, LG Chem | Germany; Japan; South Korea | Key suppliers of charge blocking materials | Comprehensive material portfolios; technical support to manufacturers | Provide specialized materials enhancing device efficiency; competition exists |
