JOLED
Born from Sony and Panasonic's OLED units, Japan's printed display hope never made the process pay
- Founded
- 2014
- Closed
- 2023
- Lifespan
- 9 years
- Country
- Japan
- City
- Tokyo
- Sector
- Hardware
- Founders
- Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Japan Display, Sony, Panasonic
- Investors
- Denso, Toyota Tsusho, Sumitomo Chemical, SCREEN, TCL CSOT
- At its peak
- About USD 1.37 billion implied by Denso's 30 billion yen for a 19.7 per cent stake in August 2018
- Cause of closure
- Product problems
What did it do?
JOLED was a joint venture of Japan's state-backed fund INCJ, Japan Display, Sony and Panasonic. It merged the OLED units of Sony and Panasonic to make mid-sized panels by printing. In 2017 it became the first company to commercialise printed OLED displays. Its panels went mainly into high-end products such as professional monitors.
Why did it shut down?
In August 2018 Denso, Toyota Tsusho, Sumitomo Chemical and SCREEN invested 47 billion yen, and in June 2020 TCL CSOT added about 20 billion yen. The Nomi line started in November 2019, with full-scale production delayed to 2021. The company never raised yields enough to bring panel costs down. Lines stood idle until spring 2021 during the pandemic, and parts shortages and weak demand deepened losses. Liabilities exceeded assets in March 2022. On 27 March 2023 it filed at the Tokyo District Court with debts of about USD 257 million, closed two factories and let go about 280 of its 380 staff.
The story
In 2014 in Japan the state-backed INCJ, Japan Display, Sony and Panasonic came together. The aim was to merge the OLED units of Sony and Panasonic and make panels by printing them.
In 2017 JOLED became the first company to commercialise printed OLED displays. In August 2018 Denso, Toyota Tsusho, Sumitomo Chemical and SCREEN put in 47 billion yen. Denso's 19.7 per cent stake for 30 billion yen implied a value of about USD 1.37 billion. TCL CSOT joined in June 2020 with about 20 billion yen.
The factory proved a hard teacher. The Nomi line opened in November 2019, stopped in the pandemic and reached full production only in 2021. Yields fell short, and panels stayed in a small high-end niche such as professional monitors. With costs stuck, price competition became impossible to survive.
On 27 March 2023 the company filed for civil rehabilitation. Two factories closed and about 280 people lost their jobs. The technology unit and about 100 staff moved to Japan Display. The idea of printed OLED survived; the company built to make it did not.
Lessons for founders
- A new production method that works in the lab is not a business until yields hold. Tie your investment to yield targets, not to a calendar.
- State money and giant partners are not a market. Focused on mid-sized panels, JOLED could not draw sales from its powerful backers when demand moved to other screen classes.
- In capital-heavy hardware one factory delay costs years. Work out from the start how many months of cash you have if an outside shock stops your lines.
Sources
- JOLED files for bankruptcy, Japan Display to take over assets (OLED-Info, 2023-03-29)
- JOLED filed for civil rehabilitation due to financing problems, withdraws from OLED business (UBI Research, 2023-03-28)
- JOLED third-party allotment of 47 billion yen (MONOist, 2018-08-24)
- JOLED raises about 20 billion yen from TCL CSOT (Phile Web, 2020-06-19)
- JOLED (Wikipedia, 2026)
- JOLED files for civil rehabilitation (EE Times Japan, 2023-03-27)
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