Analysis finds OLED display unlikely for Apple's third-gen iPad

By Neil Hughes

Despite a recent report that an Apple executive traveled overseas to see Samsung's latest AMOLED displays for a future iPad, a new report claims that the company would not be able to produce enough 9.7-inch displays to meet capacity.

OLED-display.net on Friday made their case as to why Apple will not adopt an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display in its third-generation iPad. The site noted that Samsung is expected to concentrate on small- and medium-sized OLED panels with its latest production lines, set to begin manufacturing in the next two weeks.

Samsung's total capacity is expected to be 8 million 4-inch OLED panels per month by the end of 2011. But the display maker is also said to have delayed investments for larger screen sizes of 6 inches to 9 inches until 2012.

The report also said that Samsung is interested in producing an OLED display for its own 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab, but such a device is not expected to arrive until 2012 at the earliest. And that screen size is significantly smaller than the 9.7-inch display Apple has embraced with the iPad form factor.

Also included is video footage from an interview with Barry Young, director of the OLED Association. The clip shows Young confidently saying that Apple will not ship a product with an OLED screen in 2011.

"If anything, it would have to be after 2011, maybe 2012," he said. "It's just not going to happen for Apple."

The report concludes that Samsung Mobile Display could provide millions of smaller OLED display panels, with sizes of 3 inches or 4 inches, to Apple by late 2011 or early 2012. But the company is not expected to be able to produce screen sizes of between 7 inches and 9 inches in mass quantity by that time.

The analysis comes in response to a report earlier this week from The Korea Herald, which claimed that Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook visited South Korea last week to talk with Samsung executives about utilizing an AMOLED display for its third-generation iPad. Sources reportedly told the publication that Apple could launch its next iPad before the end of 2011.

It also claimed that Apple offered Samsung "an advance" for AMOLED screens to guarantee capacity this year. It said that Samsung's Super AMOLED screens offer bright screens, less sunlight reflection and reduced power consumption, resulting in a "significant advantage" over traditional LCD displays.

The iPad 2 utilizes the same IPS LCD display found in the first-generation iPad. Rumors of an AMOLED screen on the iPad have persisted, and even existed before the device was formally announced.