Samsung allegedly in talks with Apple to equip future iPhones with AMOLED displays
The analyst, KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo, said at the time that Apple's LCD suppliers are still investing heavily in improving the technology, which means they aren't prepping for an iPhone-with-OLED switch anytime soon. As if to corroborate the analyst's memo, a Korean publication has cited a display industry exec, speaking on conditions of anonymity, who dropped the following statements:
Samsung Display has recently renewed talks with Apple to supply its small-sized OLED displays for the next iPhones to be released in a few years, which I believe is around 2018...
Samsung Display-manufactured OLED displays have so far been used in all Galaxy flagship smartphones. But demand for handsets will remain weak as time goes by because the handset industry will be reshaped further. Samsung Display needs to have a long-term contract with new and trustworthy major customers for OLED displays...
But the Chinese won't replace Apple's brand image. If Samsung starts to ship OLEDs for new Apple iPhones, then this will be huge... Despite the current advantages that LCD have, the display industry in which Korea has long been a leader, needs new momentum for further growth. Prices are being brought down and other technological issues are rapidly being addressed. If Apple adopts OLED technology in its next iPhones, this will benefit the entire ecosystem in the global display industry.
There have been recent rumors that Xiaomi, the world's fifth-largest cell phone maker, may become a client for LG's OLED business, and the Nexus 6P uses a Samsung-made Quad HD AMOLED panel, while new phones like the BlackBerry Priv or Motorola Droid Turbo 2 are employing flexible AMOLED displays, so Samsung's and LG's heavy investments in such lines might be starting to pay off. Of course, if Apple enters the fray, OLEDs will be dominating in no time, and their cost will fall down dramatically, or as one fund manager puts it: "LCDs will remain optional, not primary, and I believe groundwork has already started. Apple holds the key to the timing to open an era of OLEDs in a real sense."
source: KoreaTimes.co.kr via G4Games
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