Samsung Display CEO Meets Senior Applied Materials Executive

What happened

According to information obtained on Oct. 27, Lee Cheong, president and CEO of Samsung Display, reportedly met with a senior executive from US equipment maker Applied Materials last week. Industry observers believe the two sides may have discussed organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that does not use fine metal masks (FMMs), as well as related deposition equipment. The meeting has drawn attention because Samsung Display is actively pursuing non-FMM technology development: the company launched its proprietary Micro Patterned OLED (MPO) development project in March 2026 and is currently working on a 7-inch engineering sample (ES), aiming to produce a prototype as early as the end of 2026. Non-FMM technology forms red, green and blue (RGB) OLED pixels without using fine metal masks; a representative approach involves depositing organic materials across the entire substrate and then defining pixel patterns through photolithography and etching, similar to semiconductor manufacturing processes. Eliminating the area occupied by masks increases the aperture ratio, improving brightness and lifespan at the same current level; the technology also makes design changes easier because new masks are not required for each product, and for small displays it is considered particularly suitable for high-mix, low-volume production. Samsung Display installed a Generation 5.5 full-substrate vertical deposition system from AKT, an Applied Materials subsidiary, at its A2 production line in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, in September 2025. Applied Materials announced in November 2024 that it would supply Samsung Display with equipment to evaluate its proprietary non-FMM technology, MAX OLED; the equipment was reportedly delivered under a conditional purchase order (CPO), which converts into a firm order if the system meets agreed performance criteria within the evaluation period. In addition, China's Visionox previously decided to adopt its proprietary non-FMM process, ViP, for its Generation 8.6 OLED production line and selected Applied Materials as its deposition equipment supplier.

Impact and signal

Affected components and suppliers

Source and time

Source: The Elec · 10/27/2026 · View original source