A recent Nikkei Asian Review news article reports that Screen Holdings has developed a novel production equipment capable of attaching flexible OLED displays on to curved glass substrates.
The company's initial product with aims to attach flexible OLED displays onto glass sheets up to 80 cm x 80 cm. Screen Holdings will - depending on customer demand - further develop the equipment to capable of handling larger panels.
It was stated that the initial target market will be the automotive industry has there is a growing demand for curved instrument panels and central consoles.
Screen Holdings acquired the technology when they acquired Fuk in July this yea - now known as Screen Laminatech.
Customers of the product will be able to make minute adjustments of angle, pressure and speed on the machine. The equipment likely will be priced in the tens of millions of yen.
The Kyoto-based chip and liquid crystal display equipment manufacturer will produce the new machine at a plant in Shiga Prefecture, with hopes for mass production in the future.
Currently, South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and LG Display are the dominate manufacturers for OLED panels however Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese panel companies are increasing investments in the field.
The report said shipments of OLED displays for automobiles are estimated to grow 18-fold by 2020 from the current 40,000 panels per year (appox - 720,000 panels p.a.) according to an unnamed private market research firm.