There’s no doubt about it, the future of iPhone is OLED when it comes to display technology. More and more reports indicate that suppliers are ready to make substantial investments in the panel technology now that Apple is finally ready to adopt OLED screens in its iPhones. And it’s all starting with the iPhone 8 later this year.
The iPhone 8 will be one of Apple’s three new iPhones that will launch in 2017, but it’ll be the only one to have an OLED screen. Reports indicated that Samsung will be the exclusive supplier of those displays, but even the South Korean giant can’t meet Apple’s future demand for the iPhone down the road.
A new report from Digitimes that quotes Nikkei says that Foxconn-owned Sharp is ready to invest almost $900 million in an OLED production line at Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou City, where production should start in 2019. Foxconn produces iPhones at that factory, so Sharp’s OLED display line is believed to be dedicated entirely to Apple.
Additionally, Japan-based Sakai Display Products, of which Foxconn chairman Terry Guo and Sharp are shareholders, will mass-produce OLED screens in 2018. Apparently, the success of Sharp’s future OLED factory will be directly linked to these trials.
Other display makers including LG Display and Japan Display are building OLED production lines as well, according to various reports. Their goal is to secure Apple’s iPhone business, but also to attract orders from other smartphone makers that are expected to follow Apple and move from LCD to OLED.
Apple won’t be the first company to launch premium smartphones featuring OLED displays. In fact, the OLED screen is one of the iconic features of Samsung’s top Galaxy phones, and the most recent Galaxy S and Note models had what many experts believe to be the best displays in the industry. But Apple is believed to become a driving force behind OLED screen adoption in the future.
