OLED Smartphones - introduction and industry news - Page 62

Last week Samsung announced their next flagship phones, the Galaxy S6 and its curved-display variant the Galaxy S6 Edge. Now Samsung reports that they already recieved 20 million orders for the new phones - 15 million for the S6 and 5 million for the S6 Edge. Note that these orders are from mobile carriers, not from final customers.

Following the disappointing sales of the Galaxy S5, Samsung really needs these new phones to succeed, and the focus in these new models was on look and feel - of both the hardware and the software. Samsung says that the response to the S6 is "far better" than it was for the S5.

Samsung officially announces their next flagship phone, the Galaxy S6 and its curved-display variant the Galaxy S6 Edge. Following the disappointing sales of the Galaxy S5, it seems that Samsung focused on the phone look and feel - and reportedly the GS6 looks and feels great, especially the S6 Edge with its curved flexible OLED display.

The two phones sport the same features - an aluminum body covered with Gorilla Glass 4 on both sides, an octa-core CPU (quad-2.1 Ghz and quad-1.5 Ghz), 3GB of RAM, 16 MP camera, LTE Cat6, Android 5.0 and wireless charging support. Both display have the same specification - 5.1" QHD (2560x1440, 577ppi) Super AMOLED. Samsung also announced Gear VR edition that supports the two new phones.

LG's new flexible OLED phone, the G Flex 2, is now on sale in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Singapore and Hong Kong. Price vary from $504 at Sprint (on contract) to $820 in the UK (unlocked). You can also buy it unlocked at Amazon.com for $709 (international version).

The G Flex 2 uses a plastic-based flexible OLED display (5.5", Full-HD, 403 PPI) that curves from top to bottom, with a curvature radius of 700 mm. The G Flex 2 has self-healing back coating, a Snapdragon 810 Octacore 2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, 16/32 GB of storage, 13 MP camera, fast-charging battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Sprint announced that it will start shipping LG's 2nd-gen flexible OLED phone, the G Flex 2, on March 13. Sprint will charge $504 (24 monthly payments of $21) - but a service plan is required. Preorders begin today.

The G Flex 2 uses a plastic-based flexible OLED display (5.5", Full-HD, 403 PPI) that curves from top to bottom, with a curvature radius of 700 mm. The G Flex 2 has self-healing back coating, a Snapdragon 810 Octacore 2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, 16/32 GB of storage, 13 MP camera, fast-charging battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop. Yesterday Engadget posted their review of this phone, and they say it is a huge improvement over the original G Flex.

LG's 2nd-gen flexible OLED phone, the G Flex 2, has started shipping in Korea, and Engadget posted the first review of this interesting new phone - and they really like it. They say it has a stunning design, it offers good performance and it's a lot better than the original G Flex. Regarding the display, the reviewer says that it's very crisp and it offers deep blacks and punchy colors.

The G Flex 2 uses a plastic-based flexible OLED display (5.5", Full-HD, 403 PPI) protected with a new glass cover developed by LG that is reportedly 20% stronger than the latest Gorilla Glass 3. The screen curves from top to bottom, with a curvature radius of 700 mm. The G Flex 2 has self-healing back coating, a Snapdragon 810 Octacore 2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, 16/32 GB of storage, 13 MP camera, fast-charging battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop.

According to Reuters, Samsung Display plans to invest $3.6 billion in a new OLED fab from 2015-2017, aiming to make small and medium size displays. Samsung did not release any information regarding the type and capacity of this fab.

One option for Samsung it to build another glass-based OLED fab. The company aims to reach OLED-LCD cost parity for small-sized displays towards the end of 2015. If this happens, it's likely that OLED prices will drop below LCD by 2017 (especially if more capacity is added) and thus demand for AMOLED displays for mobile phones and tablets will soar. Samsung increased their 5.5-Gen capacity from 10K substrates per month to 140K/m from 2009 to 2013.

Samsung will unveil its next flagship device, the Galaxy S6 on March 1st, and at least according to some reports and Samsung's own official teaser, at least some of the variants will sport a curved design.

Samsung sent out invitations to a Galaxy Unpacked event on March 1st in Barcelona, where the company will likely unveil the next Galaxy device - the GS6.

The invitation seems to indicate a curved device - although it's not clear to me what kind of design is hinted at here. It's possible that Samsung will use a flexible OLED display curved on the edge - in a similar design to the Galaxy Note Edge shown below. According to some reports, the GS6 will sport a dual-edge display (the Note Edge is only curved on the right side).

Samsung released quarterly results for Q4 2014 - revenues were $48.6 billion (-11% compared to last year) and the profit was $4.9 billion (down 36%). Mobile revenues fell 23%, but the company saw strong DRAM demand and growing TV and mobile panel sales.

Regarding SDC's OLED display unit, earnings improved, "led by increased new premium products shipments". SDC expects OLED shipments to increase in 2015 due to expansion of customer base. SDC also aims to increase flexible panel sales.

LG launched its 2nd-gen curved OLED phone, the G Flex 2, in Korea. The G Flex 2 will be shipping by the end of January for 800,000 Won (about $740). This exciting new phone has a 5.5" Full-HD Flexible OLED on a plastic substrate, protected with a new glass cover developed by LG that is reportedly 20% stronger than the latest Gorilla Glass 3. The screen curves from top to bottom, with a curvature radius of 700 mm. The whole phone can be slightly bent.

The G Flex 2 has self-healing back coating, a Snapdragon 810 Octa-core 2Ghz CPU, 2GB of RAM, LTE, 16/32 GB of storage, 13 MP camera, fast-charging battery and Android 5.0 Lollipop. LG did not release any pricing information yet. The phone will be released in Korea by the end of January, and AT&T will carry it in the US.