Optical clear resin (OCR) is sharking the touch screen panel (TSP) materials market structure.
In the past, optical clear adhesive (OCA) was used to attach TSP to the smartphone display. However, as the number of curved display smartphones increased, the demand for OCR rose sharply. Domestic companies that have succeeded in OCA localization after much difficulty are now striving to secure the OCR technology.
According to the industry on the 15th, Samsung Electronics applied OCR instead of OCA to the edge of its Galaxy Note 4. A smartphone TSP is deposited with various sensor layers including indium tin oxide (ITO). OCA has been mainly used in attaching the four to six film and insulation layers. OCA was exclusively produced by 3M. Then, from several years ago, domestic companies including LG Hausys have been succeeding in the OCA localization. However, as OCR is being used instead of OCA in the high-end smartphones, domestic companies inevitably have to follow overseas makers.
Some smartphone makers are using OCR instead of OCA although they do not use the curved display. Apple is an example. Since 2011, Apple has been using OCR instead of OCA for its smartphone TSP. When a display and TSP are attached using OCA, a very thin layer of air is formed. It causes irregular reflection of light, and thus can make the screen blurred. Apple drastically improved the display transmittance by filling the layer of air with resin. As a result, the company can produce clear picture quality even under the natural light. Apple has set out a policy to expand OCR application to tablet PC in addition to smartphones. China’s smartphone makers are partially applying OCR to their new products. These are the reasons why the TSP materials market is forecast to shift from OCA to OCR in the future.
“OCR is mainly produced by Japanese companies, such as Alps, and supplied to Korea’s set makers,” explained a materials industry source. “In addition to the materials like resin, it is extremely important to secure the OCR equipment technology.”
However, although the demand for OCR is on the rise, some argue that the impact on OCA market would not be significant. Despite the many advantages OCR has over OCA, it is difficult to secure a satisfactory production yield and the price is also expensive. In fact, there have been instances where some electronic manufacturing service (EMS) providers, such as Foxconn, reduced the percentage of OCR from their manufacturing processes because of the high cost involved and went back to OCA. As for OCR, the market is forecast to grow centering on the high-end smartphones for some time in the future.
“The dynamics of the after-market will change once OCR manufacturing technology is improved, and thus OCR can compete with OCA in terms of price,” said a stock market analyst. “With an exception of Samsung Electronics, not many companies have the competitive power to stabilize OCR production yield.”
Lee Hyeong-soo | goldlion2@etnews.com