New star OLED rising from the tide of LED closure

Speaking of OLED, it may be that many people in the country are showing up in the mind of the display panel, and they are still unfamiliar with OLED lighting. However, in the eyes of Tian Yuansheng, the “first person to eat crabs” in the Chinese industry, it is only a matter of time before OLED lighting “fly into” the homes of ordinary people. According to the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, on August 27 this year, China's first linear OLED lighting production line was formally put into operation at Nanjing Disheng Organic Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. This landmark event will undoubtedly further shorten the commercialization of OLED lighting.

The market potential can not be underestimated. Foreign companies are acting quickly as surface light sources. OLED lighting has made its lighting industry impossible to ignore in its unique form. The latest research report from IDTechEx, a market research organization, shows that although the industry is in its infancy, the rapid development of OLED in the display industry will drive its development in the field of lighting. The cost of OLED lighting products will continue to decrease and the performance will gradually increase, and these will increase. Further reduce the threshold of OLED lighting applications. IDTechEx predicts that the global OLED lighting market will increase to US$1.3 billion by 2023 and will grow at an annual rate of 40% to 50%.

Faced with the market potential of OLED lighting, foreign lighting giants have already begun preparations based on the advantages of technology and capital, hoping to occupy the commanding heights of the industry.

The reporter found that SLT Asia, an expert in entertainment solutions, has recently completed the largest OLED installation project in Southeast Asia. The project has already been put into use. It is worth mentioning that the project used 1,680 Philips-developed OLED lamps. The person in charge of the Philips marketing department told the “China Electronics News” reporter that Philips launched the first OLED lighting application product that can be used for functional lighting last year. As a standardized product, this product has been designed by many third-party lighting fixtures. In addition, Philips' OLED lighting production line, which was invested 40 million euros in 2011, was officially put into operation in Aachen, Germany, in early 2013. In the future, Philips will continue to invest in the research and development of OLED panels/modules, continuously improve product efficiency and performance, and will also work on product cost management to enable OLEDs to enter the general lighting market in the future.

The reporter learned that on September 12th, at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany, OSRAM highlighted its OLED lighting technology, which is dedicated to automotive applications. The company's OLED lighting products will be commercially available in 2016 at the latest. "This year, we have largely realized the road adaptability of OLED products, and next year we will be the first to release special equipment based on OLED," said Ulich Eisler, head of OSRAM's OLED department, "at the latest to 2016. In 2008, we will see OLEDs being used in mass production of new cars.” In December last year, Osram has released OLED lighting related design products and plans to mass production in 2014.

Japanese companies that value the solid-state lighting market are no exception. OLED lighting researcher ELTechno in Japan has begun mass production of OLED lighting products with a length of 10cm on a side, with a daily production capacity of up to 5,000. The first year's revenue target for mass production is set at 1 billion yen.

The domestic market is favored by foreign companies that are confident that Chinese enterprises have commercial products. Although domestic companies have just taken an important step in industrialization, this first step has just lit the passion of domestic companies. At the node of industrial technological change, both domestic and foreign companies face the same opportunities and challenges. Facing China's huge potential market, domestic companies are full of confidence and hope that in the future, this new field of OLED lighting will occupy the world's forefront.

“OLED lighting has unique development advantages in China.” Tian Yuansheng, founder, company president and chief technical officer of Nanjing Disheng Organic Photoelectric Co., Ltd. emphasized in an interview with a reporter from China Electronics News. According to him, at the technical level, Chinese companies are not inferior to foreign companies; at the market level, both the special lighting market and the high-end lighting market, China's market size is much larger than other countries. "Because OLED is a new type of lamp, it is best suited for promotion in the new construction market, and more than half of the world's new buildings are in China," Tian Yuansheng added. It can be seen that, whether it is the present or the future, a large number of new buildings will provide a broad stage for OLED lighting.

At the policy level, there are also positive factors in the Chinese market. After all, China has faced double constraints on resources and the environment, which affects the future of sustainable development. China has become a major power consumer. While actively exploring renewable energy sources, energy conservation and emission reduction have become the most direct and effective way to reduce energy consumption. In view of the importance of lighting industry in reducing energy consumption, since 1996, the government has subsidized all kinds of energy-saving lighting products. It is believed that with the gradual understanding of OLED lighting, the government will also increase support for OLED lighting. At the same time, the country is actively promoting economic transformation, and OLED lighting is a truly innovative new industry, with the hope of becoming a world leader. “We can have today’s results, and the government’s support has contributed to it. We hope that we can continue to receive more powerful government support and support in the future,” Tian Yuansheng said.

The reporter learned that as the first production line in China, Nanjing Disheng Organic Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. will mass-produce 370mm×470mm OLED lighting panels with an annual production capacity of 20,000 square meters. In the next step, its OLED lighting products will be used in the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.

Other domestic companies are also swiftly trying to seize the opportunity. For example, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Beijing Municipal Government, Visionox Corporation has established a pilot production line for OLED lighting in the laboratory. The head of Visionox Lighting Project told the media that the company will establish a large-scale OLED lighting production line between 2014 and 2015. It is reported that the company launched OLED lighting fixtures as early as 2009 and has already completed the integration of process technology.

With the accelerating industrialization process and the gradual expansion of the market scale, it is believed that more domestic companies will join the OLED lighting industry, especially companies that have already made significant achievements in the OLED display industry, making it easier to transform smoothly.

Of course, the Chinese market has always been the arena of domestic and foreign companies, and the OLED lighting market is no exception. Foreign companies have already strived to occupy the initiative ahead of schedule. It is reported that Philips has set up an OLED lighting product development center in Shanghai so that it can develop and customize OLED applications with lighting designers all over the world. However, the OLED lighting industry is still in its infancy, and the story of "sounding" is still behind.