Universal Display Sees OLED Panel Makers in ‘Capacity-Build Mode,' CEO Says

OLED technology supplier Universal Display thinks that for 2016, OLED panel makers “are in a capacity-build mode,” CEO Steve Abramson said on a Thursday earnings call. “As these capacity builds come online, we see substantial growth momentum for 2017 and beyond,” he said. “We believe 2017 revenues can grow significantly based on new production capacity growth of at least 50 percent from 2015.” Universal thinks the OLED “design pipeline is growing robustly, and that is driving new capacity for 2017, 2018 and beyond,” he said. “As a key enabler and partner in the OLED industry, these additional capacity plans bring new revenue opportunities for us, and overall, a positive growth trajectory for years to come.” Universal is encouraged that 2015 “also ushered in a multitude of first-time OLED adopters,” including the introduction of the Apple Watch, a “plethora” of OEMs adopting OLED for their smartphones and Panasonic’s introduction of its first commercial OLED TVs into the marketplace (see 1509020025), he said. “The consumer OLED landscape has expanded, and with OLED panel pricing becoming more competitive with LCDs, we expect the proliferation of OLEDs in the marketplace to accelerate.”