[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Display has long gauged the marketability of large-size organic light-emitting diode displays due to their low production yields and high prices.

The display-making unit of Samsung Electronics, however, is said to be speeding up preparations to jump into the sector in earnest, testing a series of technologies to improve production capability. 

“Kateeva will supply the prototypes of its inkjet printers to its global customers in Korea, China and Japan this year, and Samsung Display will be the one that receives the largest volume,” said Bae Kyung-min, vice president of Kateeva Korea, at the OLED Frontier Forum, an industry conference held in Seoul on July 5.

Kateeva, which has developed inkjet printing technology for OLED for the past eight years, is the sole inkjet printer manufacturer in the world.

Coating and depositing active organic films in a vacuum chamber is primarily used when producing large-size OLED panels, which is a costly and inefficient. The inkjet printing tech simply sprays the organic molecules on a mother glass through nozzles.

‘I believe the inkjet printing technology will help display makers to improve production efficiency by two times from now,” he added


 

The vice president forecast that its inkjet printers can be deployed at the OLED production lines of global display makers, including Samsung Display, in two years.

Some market experts expected Samsung Display to throw its hat in the large-size OLED display market as early as early 2017.

“The printing system will improve production efficiency by two times compared to the current OLED panel production technology,” the Kateeva executive said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)