Then a report from The Korea Times said on Wednesday that Samsung is vying to win Apple’s business for iPhone screens. While Samsung’s OLED display has its advantages, its rival’s LCD panels are easier and cheaper to manufacture, which is a definite plus for Apple should they want to keep their profit margin as large as possible.
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LG is apparently eying capacity upgrades in light of Apple’s potential decision to move to OLED, but the company might not be able to make enough panels for Apple’s needs. In the past, Samsung has supplied several parts to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). There are already suggestions that in future the company may be forced to offer OLED iPhones alongside LCD screen phones.
A new report has emerged from Nikkei Asian Review that indicates the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will not have the new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology Apple is now using in the Apple Watch.
Although it would be interesting to see the iPhone 7 sport an entirely different display (that would impact battery life in a good way) from Samsung, analysts agree that it is unlikely to happen.
LG Display has aggressively invested in facilities making large OLED panels for televisions but now expects market growth in small and midsize panels used in smartphones and automobiles.
Shares of Minebea, which supplies backlights for liquid crystal displays now in use, plunged as much as 10 percent in Tokyo trading, the biggest intraday drop since March 2011. Though Apple is still stuck with the conventional LCD screens, which the company has been using since the first iPhone debuted in 2007.
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In fact, a few weeks ago, well-known Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo had also suggested that the iPhone 7 would not feature an OLED display, although the iPhone 8 might. Though Apple has refrained from the switch so far, it seems that years of research are now yielding results. The transition will be made in 2018, which is the approximate date of release of iPhone 8. The iPhone 7 will reportedly come in a thinner package with glass-on-glass panels.
