Samsung Display says that it should be ready to begin mass producing its first Ultra-Thin OLED displays by early 2026, with the first devices featuring them set to arrive on the market later that year.
We first set sights on UT OLED at CES 2025, where Samsung Display showed off a variety of prototypes for smartwatches, tablets and laptops. The company said the technology is key to developing a new generation of much slimmer and more power-efficient devices.
The displays measure just 0.6 millimeters in thickness, which makes them about as close to paper-thin as one would imagine it’s possible for a device screen to be.
But it’s not just the incredible thinness of the technology that’s so impressive. The 30% reduction in thickness of the display enables around 30% less weight and also translates to around 30% less power consumption, Samsung Display said.
It’s not some futuristic technology that’s years away from becoming a reality, either. Though Samsung Display was guarded on timelines when it first showed the technology at CES in January, it’s now much more open, and has an accelerated roadmap nailed down. Showing off the technology for a second time this week at Computex Taipei 2025 in Taiwan, it revealed it is currently building an Oxide TFT process at a dedicated 8.6G IT OLED production line at its factory in Asan, South Korea.
Production at that facility is set to begin in earnest by early 2026. The company said it has invested $3.1 billion into the production line, which is earmarked for devices such as OLED monitors, tablets, laptops and other small and medium-sized screens.
At Computex, Samsung Display referred to the technology as “UT One”, and said it supports variable refresh rates of between 1Hz and 120Hz, thanks to the inclusion of the oxide backplane. It’s this component that supports the 30% power reduction, the company explained. By dropping the display refresh rate to just 1Hz when it’s not being used, it can conserve tons of energy, before springing back into life when the user returns.
It's not clear yet when or indeed, if the tech will trickle down into TVs, but with those huge power savings on offer, it's certainly possible.
But definitely, thinner, lighter and longer-lasting IT devices are on the way, and they should be pretty widespread, as Samsung Display supplies panels to dozens of major electronics brands, including the likes of Apple, Asus, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Sony and its parent company, Samsung Electronics. Don’t be surprised to see all of those brands start selling devices based on the new tech soon.
