Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany) announced a €20-million expansion of its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) manufacturing capacity at its sites in Pyeongtaek, Korea and Shanghai, China. Additional sublimation units will be built to help meet customer demand in the growing OLED market. With the investment, Merck will further increase its local OLED production footprint in Korea and establish OLED production capacity in China. The enhanced local manufacturing capacities will strengthen the company’s position as key supplier of high-purity OLED materials for panel makers in Asia. With its Performance Materials business sector, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is a leading player in the electronic materials market and OLED materials are one of the defined investment focus areas for future growth.
“OLED technology is the fastest growing display technology enabling next-generation displays”, said Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and CEO Performance Materials. “By expanding our local manufacturing capacities, we’re well positioned to efficiently produce and deliver higher volumes of OLED materials. This investment underscores our commitment to creating an agile supply chain for our customers in Asia.”
The €20-million investment will be used to build a new modular production system that facilitates the installation of additional sublimation units in line with market requirements. Sublimation processes are key to ensure the highest quality of OLED materials. The purity of OLED materials is one of the most important factors affecting the performance and lifetime of OLED devices.
As new form factors enabled by OLED technology – such as foldable and rollable displays – continue to penetrate the market, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany is expanding its OLED manufacturing capacities in Asia to meet the increasing demand for high-purity OLED materials.
With research activities dating back three decades as well as early investments in OLED manufacturing capacities, Merck is well positioned as a leading global material supplier of this technology. In 2010, the company established an OLED Research Center at its global headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. In 2015, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany inaugurated an OLED Application Center (OAC) in Pyeongtaek, Korea. In 2016, the company opened an additional production plant for OLED materials in Darmstadt, Germany. Since 2018, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has also been supporting Chinese customers in its OLED Technology Center (OTC) in Shanghai, China.