Apple already uses sapphire to protect the iPhone 5s’s Touch ID sensor and camera lens, and all the latest rumors point to Apple introducing an iPhone 6 this fall with a sapphire display, likely manufactured at Apple’s sapphire plant in Arizona. So how do you think Samsung is going to respond? Do you even have to ask?
According to a new report from ET News, Samsung is looking into manufacturing its own sapphire displays. Apparently both Samsung and LG asked sapphire makers to show them samples of the material and have been considering adopting it for the past year, but haven’t because of its high price.
To Samsung’s credit, it makes sense for it to look into what is likely the future of displays. Samsung is one of the largest suppliers of displays, including for Apple’s own products, so it will want to be able to offer the best displays available. Samsung is also investing heavily in graphene, a material that could make flexible displays mainstream.
Sapphire is a desirable material for smartphone displays because it is extremely durable and scratch-proof, and has a higher touch recognition rate than glass. The main thing holding it back is that it is currently much more expensive to manufacture.
