How Much Does AMOLED Module Cost

AMOLED module costs hinge on size and application—a 1-inch watch panel fetches $5 -$ 8, while 6.5-inch phone modules average $15 -$ 22. Most goes to the OLED panel (~60%), plus driver chips/touch layers; budget suppliers might drop it to $12 -$ 18 for entry-level phones.

Component Cost Breakdown

AMOLED module component costs split clearly: the OLED panel takes ~60%, driver ICs 15-20%, touch sensors 8-12%, with the rest going to FPC, substrates, and glue. A 6.5-inch phone module’s core parts sum to $10 -$ 14 before assembly.

For a 6.5-inch phone panel, the OLED layer costs $33 -$ 50 alone.That’s because each square inch of the organic material (small molecules or polymers) runs $1.2 -$ 1.8, and a 6.5-inch panel has ~28 square inches of active display area. Then the substrate: most phone panels use polyimide (PI) instead of glass because it’s flexible (needed for curved screens) and cheaper—PI is 15-20% less than glass, so a 6.5-inch PI substrate costs $1.5 -$ 2. Encapsulation is another $2 -$ 3. Oh, and size matters a lot: a 1-inch smartwatch panel’s OLED layer is only $0.15 -$ 0.2 per piece but you pay more for precision cutting (round corners aren’t easy to mass-produce), so the total panel cost for a watch is $3 -$ 4.

High-end phones with 120Hz refresh rates and 2K resolution need fancyICs: $1.5 -$ 2.2 per chip—they have 2 million+ transistors to handle all those pixels (vs. 500k for a 720p screen). Mid-range phones with lower specs get cheaper ICs: $0.8 -$ 1.2 each—still a big bite out of the $10 -$ 14 core cost for a 6.5-inch module.

Cost per square inch: $0.5 -$ 0.7—so a 6.5-inch panel adds $2.1 -$ 2.7 for touch. In-cell is an option for premium phones, but it’s harder: you stack touch electrodes right on the display, which can interfere with OLED performance if not done right.

Each FPC costs $0.3 -$ 0.5: more ports (for fast charging, multiple cameras, or speakers) mean more wires, so higher cost.

Each square meter of OCA costs $20 -$ 30, but if you mess up application (too much/too little glue), you get bubbles or delamination. Makers spend extra on automated glue dispensers to keep yield high.

If a panel line has 85% yield, 15 out of 100 panels are scrap. Boost that to 90%? You save $0.8 -$ 1.2 per panel.

Abudget 6.5-inch phone AMOLED module. Panel: $10 (60$ 1.5 (15%). Touch sensor: $0.7 (7$ 0.4 (4%). Substrates/glue: $1.4 (14$ 13.90—close to the $10 -$ 14 core cost we said earlier. Add assembly ( $1.5) an d t es t in g ($ 0.5), and you get a module cost of $15.90.

Panel Making Expenses

Panel making eats ~60% of AMOLED module cost: deposition tools run $5 M -$ 10M, Class 1000 cleanrooms add 15% to overhead, and testing weeds out 10%-12% of defective panels before they hit assembly lines.

Panel making is where most of your AMOLED module’s cost comes from 60%. These things cost $5 mi ll i o n t o$ 10 million apiece, and a single production line might use 10-15 of them. Why so much? Because they have to evaporate organic molecules onto a polyimide substrate (standard for flexible phones) with micrometer precision—if the OLED layer is 1% too thick, pixel brightness drops by 5%, making the panel unusable. Yield here is critical: if your deposition chamber isn’t calibrated right, you lose 8%-10% of panels immediately. Boost that yield to 95%? You cut scrap costs by $0.50 -$ 0.70 per panel.

OLEDs degrade in air in hours: 5-7 stacks of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) and polymer films, each deposited in a separate machine. Each TFE layer costs $0.10 -$ 0.15 per square inch, so a 6.5-inch panel’s encapsulation runs $2.20 -$ 2.80. Pinholes are a silent killer—even a 1-micron hole lets oxygen seep in, wrecking the panel. Manufacturers use X-ray inspection after every layer, adding $0.05 p er p an e l b u t c a t c hin g 3$ 3-$4 in deposition.

Then there’s testing, where you weed out duds before they reach your phone. First, automated optical inspection (AOI) scans panels at 100 frames per second for dead pixels or misaligned layers—costs $0.10 p er p an e l an d c a t c h es 6$ 0.08 per panel and knocks out another 4%-5%. Together, testing removes 10%-12% of bad panels—so you don’t waste $15 -$ 20 assembling a broken module. Skip testing? You’ll face 15% more customer returns—costing 10x more than the $0.18 per panel testing fee.

Don’t overlook cleanroom overhead. Deposition and encapsulation need Class 1000 cleanrooms—fewer than 1000 particles >0.5 microns per cubic foot. Running one costs $20 -$ 30 per square foot yearly. A typical panel line uses 5,000 sq ft—adding $100 k -$ 150k annually, or $0.15 -$ 0.20 per panel. Cut corners with a Class 10k cleanroom? Scrap rates double.

Let’s tally a 6.5-inch panel with real numbers: deposition ( $3.50, 45$ 2.50, 32%), testing ( $0.25, 3$ 0.18, 2%), substrate prep ( $1.07, 13$ 7.50). At 85% yield, you scrap 15% of that cost, so goodpanel cost is $7.50/0.85 =$ 8.82. Hit 90% yield? Cost drops to $8.33 s a v in g$ 0.49 per panel. Over 1 million units, that’s $490k saved enough for 5-10 new deposition machines.

Size’s Role in Pricing

A 1-inch smartwatch panel costs $3 -$ 4, while 6.5-inch phone modules hit $12 -$ 18. Cost isn’t linear: 6.5-inch panels are ~42x larger than 1-inch, but price is just 3-4x higher because bigger sizes slash yield and complicate manufacturing.

A 1-inch smartwatch panel has ~0.87 square inches of active display area; its total cost is $3 -$ 4, so $3.45 -$ 4.60 per square inch. Now a 6.5-inch phone panel: 28 square inches, costing $12 -$ 18— $0.43 -$ 0.64 per square inch. A 6.5-inch panel needs 32x more organic material than a 1-inch one, but yield drops from ~90% (small screens) to ~85% (larger ones). So for every 100 6.5-inch panels produced, 15 are scrap. That pushes the effectivecost per good square inch to $0.49 -$ 0.75, still cheaper than smartwatches but not proportional to area.

Next, yield killers. Small screens (1-2 inches) have higher yield because defects are easier to spot and discard early. A 1-inch panel line might scrap 10%. But a 6.5-inch line? Scrapping 15% hits harder because each panel costs more to make upfront. Manufacturers use laser trimming to cut off defective edges, but that adds $0.10 -$ 0.15 per panel and wastes 3%-5% of material. Skip trimming? You’ll have 5% more dead-on-arrival panels.

For a 1-inch panel, the chamber coats a small area quickly, so material waste is minimal—maybe 2%. For a 6.5-inch panel, the same chamber has to coat a much larger area evenly. If the machine isn’t calibrated perfectly, you waste 5%-7% of organic material per run. Over a year, that adds $0.20 -$ 0.30 per panel. Multiply by millions? That’s $200 k -$ 300k wasted.

A vacuum deposition machine can process 100 1-inch panels per hour, but only 20 6.5-inch panels. So labor, energy, and machine time per 6.5-inch panel is 5x higher adding $0.50 -$ 0.70 to cost.

Material cost: $1.80 (O L E D l a yer$ 1.20, substrate $0.30, t o u c h$ 0.20, glue $0.10) . Yi e l d : 90$ 1.80 / 0.9 = $2.00. T es t in g / scr a p :$ 0.50. Total: $2.50 c l ose t o t h e$ 3- $4 r an g e w h e n a dd in g a sse mb l y an d ma r k u p . N o w a 6.5 - in c h p h o n e p an e l : M a t er ia l cos t :$ 8.00 (OLED $5.00, s u b s t r a t e$ 1.50, touch $0.80, g l u e$ 0.70). Yield: 85%, so effective material cost: $8.00/0.85 =$ 9.41. Testing/scrap: $1.00. T o t a l :$ 10.41, matching our earlier $12 -$ 18 range.

Makers optimize size costs by: 1) Using simpler OLED stacks for small screens (fewer layers = lower material waste), 2) Investing in AI-driven defect detection for large panels (boosts yield by 2%-3%), or 3) Limiting edge trimming for mid-size screens (saves $0.10 p er p an e l) . A 10 - in c h t ab l e t p an e l ? E v e n p r i c i er$ 25-$30—because yield drops to 80%, and material waste hits 10% from larger deposition areas.

Supplier Price Variations

Supplier prices for AMOLED modules swing 15%-25% based on who makes them—Chinese vendors like BOE charge $12 -$ 15 for 6.5-inch phone panels, Samsung Display asks $16 -$ 18, and smaller regional players undercut by 10%-15% (but with 5%-8% higher scrap rates).:

Why Prices Vary: Key Factors

Samsung’s 6.5-inch lines hit ~92% yield—92 out of 100 panels ship as good. A small Chinese vendor? 85% yield. For every 100 panels:

Samsung wastes $0.80/panel in scrap.
The small guy wastes $1.50/panel.

That 7% gap slashes Samsung’s effective material cost to $9.78/ p an e l (f ro m$ 9.00 upfront) vs. the small vendor’s $11.76/ p an e l (f ro m$ 8.00 upfront). Higher yield lets Samsung spread fixed costs (like $5M deposition machines) over more good panels.

Next, tech tiers separate players.

Samsung: Offers In-cell touch (saves space) for flagships—adds $0.30 -$ 0.50/panel but justifies $16 -$ 18 pricing.
BOE: Targets mid-range with On-cell touch (cheaper, thicker) —saves $0.40/ p an e l, u n d er c u tt in g S am s u n g b y$ 1-$2.
Small vendors: Skip advanced encapsulation (use thinner films) —cuts $0.20/ p an e l b u t r ai ses d e f ec t s b y 3$ 12 panel? Expect 5% more dead screens—costing $0.60/panel in returns.

Big vendors (Samsung/LG) lock long-term deals with material suppliers (e.g., Merck for organics)—buying materials 8%-10% cheaper than small vendors. For a 6.5-inch panel, that’s $0.60 -$ 0.70 saved/panel on materials. Labor costs add to this: Chinese lines pay $5 -$ 7/hour vs. $15 -$ 20 in South Korea—saving $2 -$ 3/panel, letting small vendors undercut by $1.50 -$ 2.00.

Supplier	Price Range	Yield	Tech Feature	Scrap Rate	Target Market
Samsung Display	$16 -$ 18	92%	In-cell touch	8%	Flagship phones
BOE	$12 -$ 15	88%	On-cell touch	12%	Mid-range phones
Small Vendor	$10 -$ 13	85%	Basic encapsulation	15%	Budget phones

Why It Matters for Buyers

Budget phones ( $500) u se BOE ($ 13): good yield (88%), decent lifespan. Flagships ( $1000) u se S am s u n g ($ 17): In-cell touch, 92% yield, better brightness.

Cost Cutting Approaches

AMOLED makers slash module costs by boosting yield 5% (saves $0.80-$ 1.20/panel), switching to inkjet printing (cuts deposition costs 30%), and ditching In-cell for On-cell touch (saves $0.40/panel). These aren’t gimmicks—they’re proven tweaks that drop costs 10%–15% without making screens look or feel “budget.”

Every 1% increase in good panels means fewer duds eating into your material budget~ $0.10-$ 0.15 saved per panel. AI defect detection helps: Samsung uses computer vision to spot 1-micron pinholes in deposition layers, cutting scrap by 3% and lifting yield from 90% to 92%. For a 6.5-inch panel line cranking out 1 million units/year, that’s $500 k l ess w a s t e d O L E D ma t er ia l . Cl e an roo m tw e ak s ma tt er t oo — re d u c in g ai r b or n e p a r t i c l es f ro m 1, 000 t o 500 p er c u bi c f oo t s l a s h ese d g e d e f ec t s b y 4$ 300k/ year on scrapped panels.

Polymer OLEDs (used in budget screens) cost $1.275 p ers q u a re in c h v s .$ 1.50 for small-molecule OLEDs (flagships)—15% cheaper. A 6.5-inch panel saves $2.81/ p an e l — e n o ug h t o u n d er c u t co m p e t i t ors b y$ 2 on the module. Thinner encapsulation works too: 5-layer thin-film encapsulation (TFE) instead of 7 layers cuts encapsulation cost from $2.50 t o$ 1.90 $.$

720p phones need 2 OLED layers vs. 3 for 1080p—cuts deposition time by 33% and saves $1.20/ p an e l .$ $O n -$ $ce ll t o u c h (t o u c h o n t o p o f t h e p an e l) s ki p s t h e$ 0.40/panel cost of In-cell (touch embedded in the panel)—and 99% of users don’t notice the 0.3mm thicker bezel. Narrower bezels help too: reducing width from 3mm to 2.5mm cuts substrate usage by 10%—$0.30 saved/panel .”

Finally, optimize your supply chain. Long-term contracts with material suppliers like Merck lock in 8% discounts— $0.60 s a v e d / p an e l o v er 3 ye a rs .Moving assembly from South Korea to Vietnam cutslabor costs from15/hour to$ $7/ h o u r —$ 2.00 saved/panel (labor is 15% of module cost). And bulk purchasing with other clients slashes shipping costs by 15%—$0.10 saved/panel.

To see this in action, compare two 6.5-inch panels:

Flagship (Samsung): Yield 92%, In-cell touch, 3 OLED layers—cost $17.
Budget (BOE): Yield 88% (up from 85%), polymer OLEDs, On-cell touch, 2 OLED layers—cost $13.

BOE’s savings come from:

Boosting yield 3% ($0.40/panel).
Using polymer OLEDs ($2.00/panel).
Simplifying to On-cell ($0.40/panel).
Local assembly ($1.00/panel).

Here’s a quick recap of where the savings live:

Tactic	Cost Save per Panel	Key Detail
Boost Yield 5%	$0.80-$ 1.20	Fewer duds = more revenue from same material
Inkjet Printing	30% of deposition	Cheaper than vacuum evaporation
On-Cell Touch	$0.40	Skips embedded touch layer
Polymer OLEDs	15% of material	Cheaper than small-molecule OLEDs
Local Substrate Sourcing	$0.12	Faster lead times + lower cost