Phosphorescent Blue Emissive OLED Possible in 2024: Universal Display

Universal Display is on track to meet “preliminary target specs” with its phosphorescent blue emissive OLED system by year-end, enabling the introduction of the first commercial products in 2024, said CEO Steven Abramson on a Q4 earnings call Wednesday. “We believe that the commercial introduction of our full-color emissive stock will unlock a vast array of opportunities for higher energy efficiency and higher performance across a broad range of OLED applications,” he said. Universal has begun selling phosphorescent blue materials still in development, said Abramson. “We would expect it to pick up a little bit but not move the needle until we get to the commercial level.” Universal has talked for multiple quarters about the progress it made on phosphorescent blue emissive OLED, but Wednesday’s call was the first in which it quoted timing on an anticipated commercial introduction. Asked in Q&A what recent advancements gave Universal comfort to make the more aggressive disclosure, “a lot of them are confidential,” but involve the materials’ “color point lifetime and efficiency.” said Abramson. “While we clearly have internal milestones, I think we're going to keep that internal.” Universal’s total 2021 revenue jumped 29.1% to $553.53 million, including a 38.7% increase in materials sales to $318.62 million and an 18.4% increase in royalty and license fee collections to $219.03 million. The stock closed 22.7% higher Thursday at $163.18.