Mikey Campbell
Apple is expected to completely transition its prized iPhone platform to OLED screens in 2019, with a report on Monday claiming the company plans to launch three handset models sporting the technology next year.
Citing industry sources familiar with the matter, South Korea's ETNews reports Apple recently began planning 2019's iPhone lineup and has selected OLED as its display technology of choice.
In line with previous rumors, and mirroring a product offering widely expected to debut this fall, Apple is predicted to bring three new iPhone models to market next year. Unlike this year's release, which is anticipated to include two OLED variants and a low-cost LCD model, each new iPhone will boast an OLED screen.
"Apple has decided to put OLED in all new iPhone models in 2019," an unnamed source said. "However, if there are more than three new models, an LCD model may be maintained."
The publication forecasts difficult times for Apple's existing LCD suppliers including Japan Display, whose stock fell 10 percent shortly after the report went live. Sharp, another LCD supplier, saw its share prices dip 4 percent on the news.
Apple currently relies on smartphone rival Samsung for OLED panels used in iPhone X, the company's first and only handset to incorporate the advanced display technology. That partnership will presumably deepen in 2019, the report said, adding that Samsung might require additional production facilities to accommodate Apple's iPhone strategy.
However, the Korean tech giant's A3 OLED fabrication plant has improved yield rates "considerably" and a new "A4" facility is about to come online, suggesting the company will be able to meet demand without further investment.
Apple is also looking to diversify its OLED supply chain by adding LG into the mix. The sole supplier of OLED screens for Apple Watch, LG was initially expected to be a secondary supplier for this year's slate of iPhones, but continued manufacturing issues have put that role in jeopardy.
Though the anticipated launch of Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup is still months away, media and analysts are already speculating on what the company has in store for next year. Among the more interesting predictions are rear-facing 3D sensing technology similar to the TrueDepth camera array introduced with iPhone X, new high-capacity battery technology and designs that remove the signature "notch" cutout into which TrueDepth is nestled in iPhone X.
Apple is widely expected to launch three iPhone models in 2018. Anchored by a 6.1-inch LCD variant, the lineup is rumored to include two OLED models in a 5.8-inch "iPhone X 2" and larger 6.5-inch "iPhone X Plus." Samsung reportedly kicked off production of OLED panels bound for the two top-end models this month.
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28 Comments
This is what I love about Apple...always pushing the envelope! :)
I remember, back in the day, when the iPod was big. Every year Apple would introduce an improved model, even thought they had 85% market share in MP3 players. And then they introduced the Shuffle and obtained 85% of the flash MP3 players by the following Friday!
Here we go again, only this time the victim is Japan Display.
Anybody with the tniest bit od production management knowledge knows that Apple placed iPhone 2019 component orders sometime before January (at the latest). If this rumor we’re anywhere near true it would have come out 4-5 months ago.
Further, an OLED display, in the tight supply environment existing today, would drive iPhone 9’s bill of goods up about $90, and seriously hamper supply for the successor to the iPhone X and the first generation of iPhone X Plus.
As as has become the rule of the rumor mongers, they don’t know shit about Apple’s plans, but can drive readers with this crap anyway.
The ONLY way something like this happens is Samsung handset sales are so bad that OLED production capacity are released .to Apple, and at significantly reduced prices. Other OLED producers won’t be ready to challenge Samsung’s industry leading capacity for another year. Without competition the incentive for Samsung to lower prices, no matter there own handset sales problems, is virtually nonexistent.
So 3 models all poorly different from a marketing perspective. What could go wrong?
Not so much a rumour as an obvious statement. OLED is seen as an upgrade over LCD and Apple will no doubt transition the entire line-up to OLED at some point, all this rumour did was throw a date at it: Sept 2019. By the time that comes around, no one will remember this rumour or care. In 2019 they'll probably repeat this exact rumour with MicroLED or whatever the next-gen screen will be.