Samsung is the only company that can manufacture OLED displays, NAND flash, DRAM chip in the quantities required by Apple for its iPhones. Also, it may affect the leading OLED tech company Universal Display Corp. However, consumers will probably have to wait for few years before seeing the results.
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But it appears that Apple never gave up on MicroLED.
Apple is expected to purchase 250 to 270 million display panels for the iPhone this year, according to a DigiTimes report. LG Displays makes Apple Watch screens at present. Mass production of screen requires new manufacturing equipment. When the technology will be finalized, some other technology may surpass it. OLEDs use organic semiconductors, but microLED is based on conventional gallium nitride (GaN) LED technology. However, the company never developed its own displays for devices they have launched till now. Apple Watch uses screens from LG Display, while iPhone X uses Samsung OLED technology. For instance, Apple calibrates iPhone screens to ensure color accuracy.
Ray Soneira, who runs screen tester DisplayMate Technologies, says bringing the design in-house is a “golden opportunity” for Apple. Also, if Apple succeeds in producing MicroLED displays at volume, it spells trouble for display manufacturers such as Samsung (which now makes the iPhone X’s display) and LG Display (which makes the Apple Watch’s display). The current plan would involve rolling microLED technology out to the Apple Watch first. MicroLED tech also lasts longer, so you don’t have issues with differential wear, more commonly known as burn-in. Engineers have a finer level of control over individual colors.
Assuming Apple’s microLED designs work out, the company will likely farm out the production to its manufacturing partners to scale up volume. The report points out that this technology will take at least, four to five years to make an appearance on the iPhone.
The OLED manufacturing process also restricts the possible screen shapes and sizes. If it is successful in producing MicroLED screens, some of its suppliers will miss important business opportunities. Each has three sub-pixels: red, green and blue LEDs.
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Bloomberg discovered the facility in Santa Clara.
