Quantum Dot’s High Materials Cost Main Hurdle to Adoption, Says DisplaySearch Blogger

The high pricing of quantum dot (QD) material has been the main hurdle for its adoption in LCD, but recently “there have been several trials for lowering the QD material cost,” Jimmy Kim, senior analyst-display materials in the DisplaySearch South Korea office, said Friday in a blog post. “Some companies are building an in-house supply chain, as most of the high price may be attributed to the monopoly-like supply chain for QD materials. If more makers are able to supply QD materials, the price will lower.” Others are trying to “optimize the structure of their QD components” to reduce QD materials consumption and boost production yields, Kim said. “Using these means, some makers have succeeded in lowering the cost of QD components.” Other QD hurdles remain, including lower energy efficiency compared with “typical” LCDs, he said. “Many believe that millions of QD LCD TVs will sell this year. But it may not be easy to raise QD LCD TV shipments to such a level under the current cost structure.”