OLED Tablets - Introduction and Latest Industry News - Page 13

In January 2016 Lenovo announced its first OLED laptop-tablet hybrid, the X1 Yoga. The OLED model is finally shipping, starting at $1,400.

The X1 Yoga has a 14" 2550x1440 display (LCD or OLED) and the configuration goes up to Core i7 CPUs, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. The laptop weighs 1.27 Kg.

Samsung has been developing foldable OLEDs for a long time, and several reports in the past few months suggested that Samsung is working on a foldable phone, to be released in 2017.

Foldable OLED concept (2013)

According to Bloomberg, Samsung actually aims to release two kinds of foldable phones - as early as in February 2017. The first one will be a regular-sized phone that folds into a small device (clamshell style?) while the second will be a 5" phone that will open to become an 8" tablet.

Samsung's Galaxy TabPro S, announced in January 2016, is now shipping globally for $899. The TabPro S is a Windows 10 convertible hybrid tablet, that features a 12" 2160x1440 AMOLED display, an Intel Core m3 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 128/256 GB SSD drive.

IHS say that the lower prices of AMOLEDs and the improvements in production is attracting more device makers to adopt AMOLED panels in their products. This leads to rapid increase in AMOLED shipments.

IHS sees 395 million AMOLEDs shipped in 2016 (this seems a bit optimistic) - an increase of 40% compared to 2015. Revenues will increase by 25% to reach $15 billion. AMOLED penetration in smartphone displays will rise from 17% in 2015 to 21% in 2016. IHS says that "AMOLED is becoming the shiniest spot in the flat-panel display industry".

Samsung announced that the 12" AMOLED Galaxy TabPro S tablet will ship tomorrow in the UK for £849 (around $1,200). The TabProS is Windows 10 convertible hybrid tablet, that features a 12" 2160x1440 AMOLED display, an Intel Core m3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, 128/256 GB SSD drive.

A day after Lenovo announced the world's first OLED laptop (the 14" X1 Yoga), HP announced a similar product - a model of the popular Spectre X360 hybrid laptop/tablet that comes with a 13.3" 2560x1600 AMOLED display.

HP did not reveal the price premium of the OLED model, but they said that it will ship by the spring of 2016. It's highly likely that Samsung Display is the producer of the AMOLED.

Lenovo announced a new laptop-tablet hybrid family - the X1 Yoga, which is the world's first OLED laptop. The X1 Yoga is equipped with a 14" 2550x1440 display - LCD in the lower models and OLED in the higher-end ones. The hybrid configuration goes up to Core i7 CPUs, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage. The laptop weighs 1.27 Kg.

The basic X1 Yoga starts at $1,449 (with an LCD) - the OLED model will be released in April 2016 - price hasn't been announced yet.

Barnes & Noble's announced a new tablet, the Galaxy Tab S2 Nook - which is basically a re-branded Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8-inch. It costs $400 but you get a 10% discount if you're a B&N member, and you get some free books and magazines as part of the deal. The tablet obviously comes with pre-installed Nook applications.

The Galaxy Tab S2 Nook sports a 8" QXGA (2048x1536, 320 PPI) "newly optimized" Super AMOLED display, an octa-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32/64 GB of internal storage, 8MP rear camera, LTE (on some models), Android 5.0 and a 4,070 mAh battery.

Last month Samsung launched two new AMOLED tablets, the Galaxy Tab S2 9.7-inch and Galaxy Tab S2 8-inch. Those two high-end tablets will start shipping on September 2nd, and you can now pre-order those tablets: the 8" one for $399.99 and the 9.7" one for $499.99 (those are the Wi-Fi only, 32GB models).

Both tablets adopt QXGA (2048x1536) Super AMOLED displays (263 PPI on the 9.7" and 320 PPI on the 8"). Other features include an octa-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32/64 GB of internal storage, 8MP rear camera, LTE (on some models), Android 5.0 and a 5,870/4,000 mAh battery. Those are the thinnest (5.6 mm) and lightest (389/265 grams) metal-framed tablets on the market.

According to a report from Japan, JOLED is set to establish a new OLED research facility in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture in a $161 investment. The facility will include a pilot line that will be able to produce samples by the end of 2016, and the facility will also evolve into a mass production fab that will begin production by 2018 (this will require, of course, a much larger investment).

JOLED is mainly targeting medium sized (10 to 30 inch displays) to be used in tablets, laptops and monitors. JOLED is reportedly in talks with Apple regarding a possible iPad AMOLED supply agreement. This new report from Japan actually suggests that Apple aims to team up with both LGD and JOLED for a tablet OLED supply agreement - with LG Display to start supplying tablet OLEDs at the end of 2016 and JOLED To join when the new facility is ready in 2018.