OLED Smartphones - introduction and industry news - Page 20

A new report from China suggests that BOE finally managed to enter Apple's supply chain for its iPhone devices. Only last month it was reported that BOE did not pass Apple's OLED quality test.

According to the report BOE will start supplying AMOLED displays to Apple before the end of 2020. In 2021, BOE will ship 10 million AMOLED displays to Apple. LGD will supply 40 million panels while Samsung will supply 130 million panels.

A couple of months ago ZTE announced the first smartphone with an under-the-OLED camera - the The Axon 20 5G. The phone is now shipping, and the first review is in, by The Verge.

The conclusion is rather dismal. The area in the screen under which the selfie camera resides is noticable - in fact the reviewer say that the "under-display integration is extremely noticeable on light backgrounds". You can see a square patch of the screen that exhibits a clear dithering effect. In fact the reviewer says that he'd prefer a notch-type display over what he gets in the Axon 20 5G.

DSCC estimates that foldable OLED panel shipments will reach 3.1 million units in 2020, an increase of 454% from 2019. Revenues in 2020 will reach $462 million. DSCC decreased its estimates following the US restrictions on Huawei which prevented the launch of the Mate X2. The market will grow to 94 million panels by 2025 (a CAGR of 97% from 2018).

Samsung is clearly the leading foldable OLED device brand, with a market share of over 80% in the 2020. The two best selling smartphones in 2020 are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and the Z Fold 2.

DSCC says that OLED panel revenues will reach almost $12 billion in Q4 2020 - reaching an all-time high (up 46% from Q4 2019) as all the major OLED markets, smartphones, TVs and smartwatches, saw increased demand.

One of the major drivers for the increased Q4 demand was Apple's later-than-usual release date which pushed orders into Q4 from Q3, and an earlier Samsung S21 release which meant SDC started producing panels for Samsung Electronics's upcoming flagship as early as November. DSCC estimates that Apple will account for 57% of all OLED smartphone panel revenues in the quarter.

UBI Research says that the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with US sanctions against Huawei are lowering demand for OLED smartphone panels. UBI estimates that in Q3 2020 113 million OLED smartphone panels were shipped, 17.9% lower than in Q3 2019.

Even though Apple is expanding its OLED adoption, this is not enough to offset the decreased demand from the COVID-19 and Huawei sanctions, and UBI estimates that Q4 2019 will also be lower by around 18% from last year.

Earlier this year it was reported that BOE failed to pass Apple's quality tests and did not become a supplier to the iPhone 12 series (BOE also failed to pass Samsung Electronics's display quality test).

According to a new report from Korea, Apple has tested BOE's AMOLEDs for next year's iPhones, but again BOE's OLED production quality is not good enough for Apple, which means that in 2021 Samsung Display and LG Display will remain the exclusive OLED suppliers to Apple's phones. In 2021 it is likely that Apple will introduce LTPO displays in addition to screens with a 120Hz refresh rates and on-cell touch.

Yesterday Oppo hosted its Oppo INNO Day 2020, during which it unveiled two interesting concept devices. First up is the Oppo X, a rollable OLED smartphone that can open up to increase the display size:

When closed the Oppo X has a 6.7-inch AMOLED, and when rolled open it can reach 7.4 inches. Inside the phone the display scrolls around a 6.8mm 'scroll motor'. Oppo says it applied 122 patents for this specific phone, with 12 patents protecting the scroll mechanism. This is still just a concept, and Oppo did not disclose any commercialization plans.

Oppo is hosting its Oppo INNO Day 2020 today, and the company is set to announce some interesting new devices. The teaser released yesterday hints at a rollable smartphone:

Hopefully we'll learn more today, but it is certain that in the near future we'll see more rollable OLED smartphone devices and prototypes. LG Electronics already announced that it is set to release a rollable OLED smartphone in 2021.

Samsung Display said it is sending a hundred employees to India, to help install equipment at its new OLED module factory in Noida city Uttar Pradesh state. Samsung aims to start producing OLED modules at the new fab in the first half of 2021.

Samsung hopes that this Indian plant will help it react faster to local demand in India. In 2020 Samsung once again is the top smartphone vendor in India (after retaking Xiaomi).

TCL's CSoT demonstrated some interesting new displays at the DTC 2020 conference a few days ago - including rollable OLEDs, foldable OLEDs, ink-jet printed rollable OLEDs and new microLED prototypes.

In the video above, you can first see the company's latest inkjet-printed rollable OLED, with a size of 17-inch. CSoT says that it managed to reduce the OLED thickness by removing the color filters it used in earlier designs, which improves the flexibility - as you can see this display rolls up very nicely.