AMOLED

BOE launched a new flexible AMOLED display, branded as Q10 AMOLED, that has a new OLED stack and delivers increased performance - the company said that compared to its previous flagship OLED stack, it enhances the peak brightness by 12.5%, the lifetime by 33%, and it reduces the power consumption by 10%. The company also says the color saturation and response time is increased.

The new Q10 display will debut at three smartphones, the OnePlus 13, OPPO Find X8 and Vivo iQOO 13. That specific screen is a 6.8" 3168x1440 (510 PPI) 120Hz LTPO AMOLED. DisplayMate tested the new display, and says it is the world's highest performing mobile display ever, seting or matching 21 performance records. It is the first display to receive DisplayMate's A++ rating.

In this article, we examine the theoretical question of whether or not it makes sense for LG Display and Samsung Display to merge, into one company.

Note that we have no indications that such a merger is even considered by the two companies, but we feel this is a fascinating topic that should be explored, and is supported by several strong arguments.

We'll start with a short introduction to the two companies, then see why there are many reasons to pursue a merger, then explain the reasons against a possible merger, and finally detail the current financial situations of both companies.

Samsung Display and LG Display

Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. SDC is a leader in OLED production, with a market share of over 40% in the small OLED display market (the second largest player, BOE, holds a market share of around 15%). SDC produces over 300 million AMOLED displays per year - supplying them to Apple's iPhones and tablets, Samsung Electronics Galaxy phones, and many more. The Company also produces larger-area QD-OLED panels for TVs and gaming monitors, and has a capacity of producing around a million TV panels per year. SDC no longer produces any LCDs. SDC does produce microLED displays (but on a very small scale, this is currently a strictly next-gen display technology), and the company develops OLED microdisplays (and also holds OLED microdisplay producer eMagin which it acquired in 2023 for $243 million).

Yesterday Apple announced its 2024 iPhone 16 series, and its latest smartwatch devices - all based on OLED displays. We'll start with the the iPhone 16 that offers a 6.1" 2,000 nits (HBM) 1179x2556 Super Retina XDR LTPS AMOLED, while the iPhone 16 Plus offers a larger 6.7" 1290x2796 display. Both phones are based on Apple's latest 3nm A18 chipset offering improved performance and AI support.

The iPhone 16 Pro has a more advanced 6.3" 120Hz 2,000 nits (HBM) 1206x2622 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED. The 16 Pro Max offers a larger 6.9" 1320x2868 AMOLED. These new phones are based on Apple's 3 nm A18 Pro chip, offer a "huge leap in battery life", support Apple Intelligence and feature new a main camera.

Huawei officially announces the world's first tri-folding OLED smartphone, the Mate XT. The phone and its specifications will be unveiled on September 10, and will ship on September 20.

Huawei allows people to reserve their Mate XT phone, and already over 1.25 million people reserved it. 

Towards the end of 2023, BOE officially announced its plans for a 8.6-Gen flexible LTPO AMOLED line in Chengdu. The agreement with Chengdu's local government was signed in early 2024, and in April BOE announced it is starting to construct the new fab.

China's Hongqi launched its latest luxury executive sedan, the Guoya (国雅), as part of the Hongqi Golden Sunflower series. The model was previously known as the HongqiL1.

The Hongqi Guoya adopts a 14.2" rollable (sliding) AMOLED display for the center multimedia display. This is the first time such an automotive sliding AMOLED display is produced commercially (and the only second rollable screen following LG's 2020 rollable 65" OLED TV which is now discontinued). The AMOLED display is produced by Visionox, and we know that it adopts an Ultra-Thin-Glass cover. Visionox says that the display weights less than 250 grams, and it has been tested for over 200,000 cycles. 

Audi unveiled its latest Q5 and SQ5 SUVs (2025 model). Both new cars adopt OLED lighting taillights and two AMOLED displays inside the car.

The OLED taillights utilize Audi's second-generation digital OLED solutions, and has six digital OLED lighting 'panels' made from 266 separate lighting segments. Audi says that the new OLED taillights can communicate with the vehicle’s immediate surroundings (Car-to-X) - for example it warns other road users of accidents and breakdowns in the road ahead. The OLED panels and technology are provided by OLEDWorks.

In May 2024, Visionox announced its plan to build a new AMOLED production line, targeting the IT display market - laptops, monitors and tablets. The company said that it will best 55 billion Yuan (around $7.6 billion USD) to build a 8.6-Gen production line in Hefei, Anhui province, with a monthly capacity of 32,000 substrates.

Yesterday Visionox shared some more details about its project and plans. The company will build the new fab with support from two local government-owned firms, both of which are partners at Visionox's existing 6-Gen AMOLED line in Hefei. In the first step for this new project, the three partners (Visionox and the new government firms) will invest a total of $282 million USD. Visionox will only hold 20% of the JV.

Google announced five new devices, all powered by AMOLED displays. We'll start with the Pixel 9 smartphone series, with the plain Pixel 9 offers a 6.3" 120Hz 2,700 nits (peak) 1080x2424 AMOLED display, a Google Tensor G4 chipset, 12GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The Pixel 9 Pro offers a 6.3" 3,000 nits (peak) 120Hz 1280x2856 LTPO AMOLED, and up to 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. The Pixel 9 Pro XL offers a similar but larger display - 6.8" 1344x2992 LTPO AMOLED.

Google's Pixel 9 Pro Fold smartphone is based on a 8" 120Hz 2,700 nits (peak) 2076x2152 foldable LTPO AMOLED display, and an external 6.3" 120Hz 1080x2424 AMOLED. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is powered by a Google Tensor G4 chipset, and offers up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.

Back in February we posted about rumors that suggest Huawei is planning to release the industry's first smartphone that sports a tri-foldable OLED display. When fully open, the device will sport a 10" display, which means it will double as a full tablet and a smartphone.

Now we have seen a photo of Huawei's Chairman that uses such a smartphone on a flight. This could mean that Huawei is getting ready to officially launch such a phone.