Roger Fingas
Samsung Display will reportedly be operating seven OLED production lines at "full scale" this month in order to churn out panels for Apple's "iPhone 8," the first iPhone to use OLED technology.
Samsung's related capacity has jumped from 30,000 to 45,000 panels per month a year ago to 105,000, ETNews said on Friday. While that number may still sound low, in this case each panel can be used to make several iPhone displays.
The "iPhone 8", coming this fall, is expected to feature an edge-to-edge, 5.8-inch OLED screen, with a portion of that being set aside for a virtual home button and other interface elements. Samsung should be Apple's sole OLED supplier, as it's currently the only firm able to produce smartphone-sized OLED panels on a mass scale — curved OLED has been on Samsung phones as far back as 2014's Galaxy Note Edge.
The Apple Watch uses OLED as well, but its small display size is both cheaper and easier to manufacture for. It may be some time before Apple feels it's economical to bring OLED to bigger devices such as iPads and MacBooks.
Companies like Sharp and LG should eventually join the iPhone OLED supply chain, but not in time to make a meaningful contribution to this year's hardware.
Alongside the "iPhone 8," Apple is also forecast to release an "iPhone 7s" and "7s Plus," using 4.7- and 5.5-inch LCDs like the iPhone 7 line. They should have some "8" upgrades however, such as wireless charging and faster processors.
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
16 Comments
This isn’t our year to upgrade, as we did that last year. I’m disappointed though in the size of the iPhone 8. I really was hoping the display would have a usable area for apps that would match that of my 7+. I’ve become used to that size, and don’t want to go back down a bit. And remember that the 5.8” screen really has a usable area for apps of 5.15”.
Please, No freeken curved display like the edge on Samesung phones!!! So Samesung profits should be up pretty good because of Apple. Of course these are different divisions of Samesung. Hopefully LG and Sharp will get into the act and Apple can move to that direction. As for getting one of these new phones,.... I won't make up my mind until APPLE announces them and I can see real FACTS on a real product. Rumors are just that, RUMORS. As you get closer to launch the some of the rumors can start to become true. Others go by the wayside to be used once again for the following iPhones.
I'll probably use my yearly upgrade contract. The question will be whether that contract will cover upgrades to both the 7s and 8 iPhones.