Sharp Corp. is planning to start production of OLED TV panels at its Sakai factory in Osaka, Japan, in the coming years, the company confirmed to local media this week.

Japanese-made OLED TVs
Sony has tried (and failed), Samsung has tried (and failed), Panasonic has tried (and failed), but Sharp thinks that it can be done. If it manages, it will be the first company to join LG.Display who has been the sole supplier of OLED TV panels for some years.

Sharp Corp., today co-owned by Taiwan’s Foxconn, this week confirmed to Japan Times that it plans to spend “about Ą57.4 billion to build production lines for OLEDs at its plants in the city of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, and in the town of Taki, Mie Prefecture”.

Photo: The Verge

Sharp is already operating the world’s most advanced LCD display factory in Sakai. The 10th generation LCD plant was established in 2009 and has over the years churned out LCD panels in sizes up to 100 inches. Sharp has for over a decade been at the forefront of new display technology but its financial troubles forced to company to re-align. Foxconn acquired a 66% majority stake in the company in March of 2016.

The company had already confirmed that it would produce small and medium-size OLED panels for smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Sharp now confirms to Japanese media that it will also produce large-size OLED panels intended for TVs at the plant. However, it is not clear when. Previous rumors have indicated that Sharp is aiming for production of OLED TV panels in 2021.

- “Sharp Corp. plans to develop large organic electroluminescence display panels — a thin, bendable light-emitting technology — for television sets,”

Sharp expects to start mass-production of OLED displays at the plant in April-June 2018.

- Source: Japan Times & Japan News