At this June event held outside Seoul, Korea, the executive forum, consisting of a group of high-level business leaders, gave a business and market perspective to this show that has had a heavy focus on technology.
Leaders from top industry players, including Osram Opto Semiconductor, Philips Lumileds, Kodak, Samsung, and Cambridge Display Technologies, attended. LED blue-light inventor Dr. Shuji Nakamura was also a featured speaker.
OLEDs
Living up to the LED-FPD crossover billing of the program, speakers explored the impact of OLED and P-OLED lighting on the near and long term future of the FPD market.
Discussing the battle between the LCD and OLED camps, David Fyfe, CEO of Cambridge Display Technology posited, “Lifetime is still the “excuse” for non-engagement despite massive increases in the lifetimes of OLEDs.” However, Fyfe went on, OLEDs are the wave of the future and “like old King Canute you cannot roll back the tide.”
Market drivers
A separate session debated the market and technology drivers that will power SSL growth in general in the next five years. The panel agreed that SSL is positioned for a strong growth phase thanks to the tremendous improvements and proven benefits of LED technology plus increased awareness of solid state lighting.
Christian Fricke, CTO of Osram Opto Semiconductor, pointed to the “increasing scarcity of natural resources, the growing need for environmental protection and increasing urbanization” as all being advantageous for the growth of LED lighting.
Technology seminars
The technology seminar program covered a wide range of topics. LED-legend Nakamura was a major draw to the program and updated a capacity crowd of the region’s technology innovators on the current status of GaN based LED and laser diodes.
Other speakers covered LED packaging technologies, the outlook of the TFT-LCD markets, optimization of white LEDs, high brightness/power LEDs, P-OLED micro-displays, and more.
The exhibition drew 188 exhibitors from 10 countries and approximately 16,000 industry visitors. The Expo floor was a showcase of system components, process technology, and display innovations. The show traditionally draws a serious business crowd and this year was no exception. Nearly 80% of the visitors came from manufacturing, trade and distribution companies from Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Ok-Kyeon Mun, director of the Expo Secretariat, noted that Korea is a worldwide leader in both the LED and flat panel display industries: “To see where those industries are going in the future, this exhibition is and will continue to be the place to be.”
Next year's expo will be held on May 20-23.
