The cost of AMOLED panels will remain high compared to TFT LCD display panels, limiting adoption by consumers, according to a new forecast from DisplaySearch.
Current manufacturing costs for AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display panels are estimated to be almost seven times more than costs for the LCD panels, according to the new NPD DisplaySearch “Quarterly AMOLED Panel Cost Report.”
“The estimated total manufacturing cost of a full-HD 55in panel is $2454 in Q1’13, due to low manufacturing yields,” according to Tadashi Uno, director of Materials and Components Market Research for NPD DisplaySearch. “As yields improve, the cost is expected to fall significantly over the next two years, but will remain much higher than equivalent LCD panels.”
AMOLED TV panel manufacturing yields are lower than TFT LCDs because the AMOLED manufacturing processes are not mature. Materials, depreciation, personnel expenses and other cost factors are highly related to yield rate; therefore, improving AMOLED yields quickly is the key factor for making AMOLED TVs competitive with LCD TVs.
According to the NPD DisplaySearch cost model, the manufacturing cost for AMOLED TV panels is expected to fall by 36 percent from Q1’13 to Q1’14, but the panels will still cost five times as much as LCD TV panels.
