OLED Smartphones - introduction and industry news - Page 49

Samsung started shipping its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones in Korea, and some of the first customers are complaining that the display have a reddish tint - which did not go away even after correcting the color display settings. This issues was quickly labeled as "Red Gate"... will Samsung face a new crisis?

Samsung itself says that there are no quality issues - and that the problem can be adjusted. Customers are welcome to replace their device, though, at service centers in Korea.

Reports from Korea suggest LG Display has secured an OLED supply deal to Xiaomi, for the company's next-gen flagship phone. LGD will supply Xiaomi with curved flexible OLEDs, similar to the ones used in Xiamoi's Mi Note 2.

According to the report, LGD already supplies flexible OLEDs for Xiaomi's Mi Note 2 - but with very limited volume. Once LG's E5 fab starts producing panels later this year the company's capacity will be increased dramatically and it will be able to support volume production to Xiaomi - and also to other handset makers in China. We recently reported that Apple is in talks with LGD regarding flexible OLED supply for the 2018 iPhone, and other reports say that Google is also discussing a possible supply agreement with LGD.

Apple is moving forward with its 2017 flexible OLED phones, and the company has to rely exclusively on Samsung Display as SDC is the only OLED maker capable to produce the capacity Apple needs and the quality flexible OLEDs.

But in 2018 LGD is also planning to ramp up its flexible OLED capacity, and according to a new report from Business Korea LGD was approached by Apple with an aim to secure LG's capacity for Apple's 2018 phones. LGD reportedly did not yet make a decision - which will have to be made at the end of June once its new Flexible OLED fab comes online.

Samsung's latest flagship phones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are not shipping yet, but according to reports that early reaction from retailers suggest that the larger S8+ variant is more popular than expected.

Samsung first aimed to produce 50% more Galaxy S8 variants than Galaxy S8+, but have decided now to increase the ratio of S8+ devices to 45%. The new phones will start shipping globally on April 21th.

DisplayMate posted a comprehensive review of the 5.8" Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display used in Samsung's latest flagship, the Galaxy S8. DisplayMate says that this display is the most innovative and high performance smartphone display that they have ever lab tested - and it earned DisplayMate’s highest ever A+ grade.

Samsung incorporated several innovations in this new displays. First of all of course is the "Inifinity" design - the full screen display. This display is also a high-resolution 3K (2960x1440) one and it features a new and accurate 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, certified by the UHD Alliance for Mobile HDR Premium. The native color gamut is actually larger - it has a very impressive 113% of DCI-P3 and 142% of sRGB / Rec.709 gamuts. Samsung's latest AMOLEDs are brighter than before - with a peak brightness of 1,020 nits.

The Nikkei Asian Review says that its sources claim that Apple ordered 70 million 5.2" flexible OLED displays for its first OLED iPhone, that will be launched by the end of 2017. IHS estimates that SDC actually plant to produce 95 million OLEDs for Apple in 2017 as it expects higher demand from Apple.

This report follows several reports of Apple's OLED orders in the past years. In 2016 it was suggested that Apple paid $4.3 billion upfront to secure 100 million panels, and in February 2017 it was reported that Apple ordered an extra 60 million OLED panels from Samsung Display.

Samsung announces its latest flagship phones, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Both phones sport what Samsung brands as an Infinity Display - a curved flexible Super AMOLED that is almost without any bezels. Samsung did not release an edition with a non-flexible rigid OLED, but this isn't really a surprise.

The Galaxy S8 has a 5.8" Quad HD+ (2960x1440, 570PPI) OLED while the S8+ has a larger version (6.2") but with the same resolution (529 PPI). Both phones feature a 10nm Octa-core 64bit CPU, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, microSD slot, IP68 water and dust resistance, Android 7.0, Samsung Bixby assistant and a Dual-Pixel 12MP OIS camera. Both phones will launch globally on April 21st 2017.

Flexible displays are exciting - giving device makers the freedom of design can potentially unlock new applications and put displays where they haven't been seen before. Flexible displays, made on plastic substrates, are also thinner, lighter and more durable.

Following years of research, in 2013 both Samsung Display and LG Display finally started producing flexible OLEDs on plastic substrates. Since then Samsung has taken the clear lead, but LGD has some ambitious plans of its own. Other display makers are also aiming to start making such panels soon. This article will detail current AMOLED production capabilities, future production plans and market forecasts.

Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) released some very interesting information regarding the mobile OLED market from its recent OLED market report by Yoshio Tamura and Ross Young. DSCC expects mobile AMOLED demand to grow from almost 400 million panels in 2016 to almost 1.2 billion in 2021.

Samsung Electronics, who's already using AMOLED displays in almost 80% of its smartphones will not increase its AMOLED orders by a lot, but shipments will grow dramatically to other players led by Apple, Huawei and Oppo.

Trendforce released a new analysis on the mobile memory and displays markets, and the Taiwan-based market research company says the price of AMOLED panels started to climb in the second half of 2016 following the supply shortage of these displays.

Trendforce also estimates that OLED prices will continue to rise throughout 2017 - probably as the supply shortage and high demand for OLED displays is not expected to change during the year.