OLED is a new display technology, used to create thin, power efficient and bright displays. Today OLEDs are used in mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras and even TV sets - as OLEDs are considered the best display technology ever.
Apple's OLED iPhone
Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone X was the company's first OLED Phone - with a 5.8" 1125x2436 (458 PPI) flexible Super AMOLED display that covers almost the entire front of the phone, HDR, dual lens camera, a Hexa-core A11 Bionic CPU, 3GB of RAM and 64/256 GB of storage.
The iPhone X carries a high price tag, starting at $999. iPhone X sales were lower than expected, which caused problems at Apple's suppliers, including Samsung Display who produces the OLED displays for Apple.
Apple's 2019 iPhone lineup included two OLED smartphones - the iPhone XS (5.8" 1125x2436 notch-type flexible AMOLED) and the iPhone XS Max with a larger 6.5" 1242x2688 AMOLED.
The OLED Apple Watch
The iPhone X is not Apple's first product to adopt an OLED display, though. In April 2015 Apple launched its first wearable device, the Apple Watch which used a flexible AMOLED display (made by LG Display). All Apple Watch products to date continue to use LGD's flexible OLEDs. OLED displays are especially suitable for wearable devices - as the displays are thinner and lighter than LCD displays, and are more power efficient (especially if you tweak the UI to suit the special OLED properties).
Apple OLED MacBook Pro
Apple's MacBook Pro range of high-end laptops started adopting an OLED Touch Bar instead of the traditional function keys in 2016. The display itself is either a 13" or a 15" LCD.
The OLED strip is supported by most of Apple's applications and can show commonly used emojis in messaging applications, bookmarks while you browse and other context-activated options. It also includes a Touch ID sensor that is activated for example when you wish to pay online (on supported web stores). Apple released an API to developers can support the Touch Bar in third-party applications.
The latest Apple OLED news:
The Elec: LG and Samsung will supply AMOLEDs to Apple's iPhone 12
The Elec reports that Apple ordered around 55 million AMOLED panels for its iPhone 12 smartphone series, which will be announced later this year. LG Display will supply around around 20 million AMOLEDs - which is a big increase from the 5 million OLEDs LGD supplied for Apple's previous generation phones.
According to The Elec, LG will supply the panels for Apple's iPhone 12 Max (6.1"), while Samusng will supply all the panels for the iPhone 12 (5.4"), iPhone 12 Pro (6.1") and iPhone 12 Pro max (6.7").
DSCC details the iPhone 12 screens and OLED suppliers
DSCC posted an interesting blog post, in which they detail what they believe to be Apple's iPhone 12 smartphone family specifications.
So we start with the iPhone 12, which will use a 5.42" 2348x1048 (476 PPI) flexible AMOLED display, produced by Samsung Display. DSCC believes the iPhone 12 will use a Y-OCTA integrated touch. DSCC believes that while BOE did not manage to get its panel to the iPhone 12, it may become a supplier in 2021 to the iPhone 12s - if all goes well with the iPhone 12 Max (see below).
LG Display reports disappointing results for Q1 2020 as COVID-19 lowers demand for smartphones and TVs
LG Display reported its financial results for Q1 2020. LGD's revenues were 4.7 trillion Won ($3.8 billion USD), decreased 26% from the previous quarter and 20% from Q1 2019. The company's net loss in the quarter was 199 billion Won ($161 million USD).
LGD's revenues and earnings were below analysts expectations - the company's business was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic which caused lower demand for smartphones and TV panels (which were also hit due to the postponing of major sporting events). LCD panel prices have also taken a hit.
LG's iPhone display orders propel its OLED smartphone market share to over 10% in Q4 2019
Towards the end of 2019 LG Display started to supply Apple with 6.1" film-touch OLED flexible displays for its 2020 iPhone, and IHS Markit now says that these shipments propelled LGD's OLED smartphone market share to 10.8% in Q4 2019 (up from only 2.1% in Q3 2019).
In fact LGD now says that mobile OLED revenues make up for 36% of its total revenues in Q4 - which is higher than its OLED TV revenues for the first time ever.
iFixit offers lower-cost LCD replacements for broken iPhone X and Xs OLED screens
Apple's latest flagship iPhone displays all use OLED screens, and Apple is charging a hefty fee for a screen replacement - $280 if you do not have AppleCare. Another option is to buy the OLED screen from a vendor - at a lower cost, and perform the replacement yourself.
One such vendor is iFixit - and the screens still cost around $185 for the iPhone Xs and $155 for the iPhone X. iFixit is now offering a lower cost alternative - replace the OLED with an LCD display, which costs around $100 less than the fancier OLED option.
ETNews: LGD to upgrade its E6 flexible OLED line for LTPO and on-cell touch technologies
In November 2019 ETNews reported that LG Display will supply Apple with 6.1" film-touch OLED flexible displays for its 2020 iPhones. Samsung will also supply the same displays (in a 50:50 split) in addition to 5.4" and 6.7" OLEDs that will support Samsung's on-cell touch (Y-OCTA).
According to a new report by ETNews, LG Display is set to update its E6 flexible OLED production line to support two new technologies - LTPO and on-cell touch, which LG calls TOC. ETNews says that LG's E6 line is dedicated to Apple - currently it produces 6.5" 2688x1242 OLEDs used in the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Counterpoint: 600 million OLED smartphone displays to ship in 2020
Counterpoint Research estimates that OLED smartphone sales will reach 600 million units next year, as phone makers adopt OLED displays in more mid-range and low-end devices.
Counterpoint says that OLED penetration in Samsung devices will surge from 45% in 2019 to 71% in 2020. Both Apple and Oppo will use OLED displays in 50% of their phones next year.
RiTDisplay sees lower PMOLED sales, shifts focus to micro LED displays
Taiwan-based PMOLED display maker RiTDisplay's CEO says that the company's PMOLED sales has been affected by e-cigarette bans in the US, and the company is now shifting its focus to develop micro LED displays (and also mini-LED ones). RiTDisplay's revenues in 2019 to date, $47.1 million USD, decreased 32.4% compared to last year.
In May 2019 RiTDisplay announced a strategic partnership and share swap with Taiwan-based MicroLED developer PlayNitride. As part of the partnership, RiTDisplay gained access to PlayNitride's technology and is able to produce and sell micro-LED panel based on this technology and IP.
ETNews: Samsung and LGD to supply Apple with its iPhone OLEDs in 2020
Korean site ETNews says that Apple will release three new iPhone models in 2020 - all with OLED displays. There will be a 5.4", 6.1" and 6.7" models.
For the 5.4" and 6.7" models, Apple will rely exclusively on Samsung Display for its AMOLED displays - and will adopt Samsung's Y-OCTA technology (on-cell touch) which enables thinner panels. ETNews says that SDC offered great terms for Apple to secure the 2020 exclusivity.
Has Samsung developed its own LTPO OLED technology?
Apple developed its LTPO backplane technology for OLED displays to enable power saving of around 5-15% compared to LTPS AMOLEDs. LTPO was adopted in Apple's Watch Series 4 and Watch Series 5 smart watches - with the panels produced by LG Display using Apple's technology and IP.
According to a new report from Korea, Samsung has recently developed its own brand of LTPO backplane technology and has started to produce such panels - which are adopted by the company's latest smart watch, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 (which recently started shipping). The watch has a 1.2" 360x360 or 1.4" 360x360 round AMOLED displays.