Sony Starts Mass Production of OLED Displays

Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan, said it will start mass production of organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panels for mobile devices from spring 2004, Dow Jones reported. Sony said it will initially use the displays for its brand of mobile devices. The first products equipped with OLED displays will likely be mobile phones, digital still and video cameras, or personal digital assistants.

Sony plans to begin production at a monthly capacity of about 300,000 2-inch OLED panels in Aichi, central Japan. ST LCD now makes small-sized low-temperature polysilicon thin-film-transistor LCD panels for use in portable equipment.

So far only Sanyo Electric Co. and its partner Eastman Kodak Co. have launched commercial shipments of OLED displays. SK Display Corp., a joint venture between Sanyo and Kodak, started in February mass-production of 2-inch displays at a monthly capacity of 100,000 pieces. Kodak's LS633 digital still camera is the first finished-product with an OLED display.