Yield rate exceeds 90%, Samsung Display 8.6 generation OLED line mass production is imminent

On May 21, according to Korean media The elec, the yield rate of Samsung Display’s 8.6th-generation OLED panel production line has increased to 90% from 80% last month.

Yield refers to the proportion of glass substrates produced that produce qualified products. The industry believes that a yield rate of about 90% can meet mass production needs. By quickly improving yield rates, manufacturers can stabilize the production process and reduce the pressure caused by high panel unit prices.

According to reports, the yield rate of some individual processes such as thin film transistors (TFTs), evaporation, packaging and touch in Samsung's display production line has reached 95%. Front-end processes, including evaporation and packaging of TFT and OLED, are completed in Samsung Display's Korean factory; back-end processes, such as module assembly, are completed in Vietnam.

Previous news said that Samsung Display will start mass production and ship 8.6-generation OLED panels next month. The products are expected to be used in Apple's 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. This year's supply is expected to be about 2 million pieces. An industry insider said: "The investment in glass substrates has just begun. From the input of the substrate to the module process and mass production and shipment to customers, it usually takes at least about a month, so shipments will be carried out in June."

Image source: Samsung Display

Compared with smartphones, the OLED panel manufacturing process used by MacBook Pro is more complex. Since the screen area of ​​a laptop is larger than that of a smartphone, and the screen needs to remain in the same state for a long time, the requirements for brightness, lifespan, and large-area uniformity are also higher. The panel adopts a double-layer (tandem) structure, including a hybrid structure combining two light-emitting layers, a glass substrate and a thin film encapsulation, and an oxide TFT backplane. Due to the need to achieve uniform evaporation and matching TFT driving characteristics on a larger substrate, ensuring high yield has become the key to mass production.

Samsung Display will launch the 8.6th-generation OLED production line for IT applications in 2023. The company invested approximately 4.1 trillion won and built a production line with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 pieces. This year, only one production line with a monthly capacity of 7,500 sheets has been put into operation, accounting for half of the total production capacity. If the OLED product market responds well, another production line with a monthly output of 7,500 sheets will also be launched. The reaction of potential customers, including Apple, will be crucial for the 8.6th generation OLED panels in IT applications.

In addition to the production lines currently in production, Samsung Display is expected to actively expand customers to promote the operation of subsequent production lines. If the OLED version of MacBook sales responds well, the start-up of the remaining production lines and expansion discussions with IT OLED customers are also expected to accelerate.