Abstract
OLED is a new flat panel display technology that has high potential. When compared to the current mainstream flat panel display technology, TFT-LCD, OLED is self-illuminative, has low voltage requirements, is highly power efficient, has a wide view angle, is very responsive, has light surfaces, contains a small number of components, has a simple manufacturing process, and many other properties. Yet, despite that the OLED market has unlimited potential, after years of development by Taiwanese firms, some of them are still operating, others have already exited the market, while new firms are still entering the market. Therefore the development of the OLED industry consists of interesting factors that warrant further investigation. To understand the detailed aspects of the OLED industry, each phrase of manufacturing is analyzed, and the relationship among OLED manufacturers, equipment venders, material suppliers, and raw material suppliers is clarified. However, the environmental factors, relative dependent relationships among firms, and key resources would differ among various OLED manufacturers depending on the resources each manufacturer has or controls. Research has shown the evaporation manufacturing process and equipment has the following limitations: 1. the lack of standardized equipment, as each equipment vender specifications are customized; 2. unstable manufacturing processes, manufactures are still continuing to discover manufacturing flaws during trial manufacturing; 3. there are only two equipment suppliers, ULVAC and Tokki. There OLED manufacturers are over-dependent on equipment manufacturers. Manufactures gain competitive advantages through obtaining components at lower costs by purchasing locally and producing them in-house, providing better options for the manufacturers; the key still revolves around the yield rate and production cost of OLED products. By analyzing the potential business opportunities and competition surrounding OLED, this research applies logical inferences to forecast future trends in resource dependence among OLED manufacturer, resulting in the following conclusions1.Taiwanese manufactures should focus on small and medium sized passive matrix products.2.Taiwanese manufactures can attempt to establish partnerships with Japanese manufactures to develop the OLED industry.