Slash LaneAfter speaking to industry sources, Ars Technica has made the case against an AMOLED tablet. The site spoke with Barry Young, managing director of the OLED Association, who said that there is "no real production of 10.1-inch panels."
The report, issued Monday, specifically disputes a claim last week that Apple had cornered the market on virtually all LCD and OLED screens sized at 10.1 inches. While the LCD component may prove true, placing an active matrix OLED display on the device isn't likely in 2010.
At most, Young told Ars, Apple would be able to procure 150,000 AMOLED display panels per month. And all of those would be coming from the only company that produces such displays in volume, Samsung SMD. OLED makers are currently straining to meet supply for panels in the 3.5-inch to 4.5-inch range.
"There may be the slimmest of chances that we could see an AMOLED Apple tablet announced at the end of this month, with commercial availability later in the second half of the year when a combination of premium pricing and increased fab capacity from LG and Samsung could make it possible to meet demand," the report said. "But is just speculation compounded with more speculation, though, so don't hold your breath for it to happen."
Last summer, rumors first began to arise that the tablet could sport an OLED screen for its touch panel display. One report said an OLED-based tablet would cost between $1,500 and $1,700 to build based on current component prices.
An OLED-based tablet would likely cost about $2,000 at retail, which is much higher than the sub-$1,000 price expected by many Wall Street analysts.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
Amber Neely
77 Comments
I am sticking my bet on OLED. If I lose I believe I will owe someone a penny.
Thank god~!
IMHO,
NO OLED = WIN
Thank god~!
IMHO,
NO OLED = WIN
In what sense?
Oh, we should have heard something about that for sure
....
P.S. The only evident OLED advantage is energy efficiency. Since when is Apple concerned for energy efficiency?
That's assuming the tablet will come with a 10-inch screen. It's no coincidence that at CES Ballmer showed three prototypes of varying sizes from other manufacturers. The competition is unsure of which direction Apple will take.
I have often argued against Apple's next move being the introduction of a 10-inch tablet on account of such a device, regardless of the technology used, would be significantly more expensive than a tablet based around a 5-inch or 7-inch screen. Cost does matter, even if an Apple logo is on this thing. To begin with, this device is supposedly Apple's response to the netbook form factor which has been popular because of a combination of portability and price. Bring out a device priced not that far from a MacBook and you've already failed in a key area if netbooks are your target. Besides, if for about the same money you can buy a full-function laptop, why would you opt for the tablet? With a 10-inch screen portability would not be that much better and in terms of what you could do with the device, it would be more limited, being as it sounds like it will be running an OS more closely aligned with the iPhone than a MacBook.
So the issue of which technology Apple's next touch-screen product will employ is very much in play. If anything, pointing out how ridiculously expensive OLED would be in the 10-inch size merely illustrates how illogical it would be for Apple to go in that direction at this time.
Anything is possible but all those rumours based around a 10-inch screen, I suspect, is a case of Apple "leaking" misinformation to disorient the competition. Looks like it worked.