Apple: OLED company spotlight
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 devices
Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone X was the company's first OLED Phone - with a 5.8" 1125x2436 (458 PPI) flexible Super AMOLED display. Since then Apple has been adding more OLED iPhones, and starting in 2021, the company's entire smartphone lineup adopts AMOLED displays.
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 flexible AMOLED displays. 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).
In 2024 Apple launched its first OLED tablets, the 2024 iPad Pro devices, There are two devices, a 11" model (1668x2420) and a 13" model (2064x2752). Both OLEDs offer 120Hz and 1600 nits peak brightness - and a tandem architecture. Apple brands these displays as Ultra Retina Tandem OLEDs. It is estimated that in the near future, Apple will introduce more and more tablets and laptops that utilize high-end AMOLED displays.
Apple also has other OLED devices. The Vision Pro VR headset uses 1.4" 4K OLED microdisplays (produced by Sony). In 2016, the company released its MacBook Pro range of high-end laptops that had an OLED Touch Bar instead of the traditional function keys. The company's latest laptops, though, no longer uses this OLED panel.
Japan Display to shut down OLED production at its Mobara fab, will no longer produce panels for the Apple Watch
Japan Display, who's been in financial problems for many years, has decided to halt its OLED production at its Mobara Fab, its only OLED production line. As a consequence, the company will no longer supply panels to Apple. The Mobara fab will end production by March 2026.
Beyond being good news for LG Display (Apple's other main wearable OLED panel supplier), this is a sad ending to JDI's OLED fab. The company been considering moving the production equipment to its Ishikawa LCD line but has apparently decided instead to try and sell the OLED production equipment.
UBI Research says LGD's AMOLED shipments to Apple is set to rise sharply in the second half of 2025
UBI Research says that LGD's AMOLED shipments to Apple are expected to rise 70% in the third quarter to 18.5 million units, as the company starts shipping AMOLED displays for Apple's new iPhone 17 series and its upcoming iPad devices. UBI says that LGD already started mass production for Apple's new devices. In Q3 2025, LGD's shipments to Apple will surpass 25 million units.
According to UBI, LG Display's Apple iPhone display market share was 21.3% in Q2, lower than BOE's (22.7%). Samsung Display is the clear leader with a 56% market share. But looking at the whole of 2025, LGD's market share will stand at 30.3%, while BOE's market share will be 16.4%.
The ITC issues a preliminary ruling and may ban the import of BOE AMOLED panels into the US
Samsung Display and BOE are fighting a legal battle in the US for quite some time. Samsung wishes to halt the import of BOE AMOLED displays into the US, mainly in the smartphone displays aftermarket. Samsung claims the BOE, and also some phone parts retailers, infringe upon Samsung's AMOLED patents.
In March 2025, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) found that BOE, Injured Gadgets Wholesale Gadget Parts indeed infringe on several of SDC's AMOLED patents. Back then the ITC decided not to impose a ban on the import of BOE's displays in the US. On July 11, however, the ITC issued a preliminary ruling in another Samsung complaint and recommended two sanctions against BOE. This is not a final ruling, but according to experts it is very seldom that the actual recommendations will be different than the preliminary ruling. The ITC's final ruling is expected in November 2025.
UBI says that SDC ramped up its foldable OLED panel production, and is expected to remain the market leader
Omdia sees an increased adoption of tandem OLED panels in IT devices, but longer-term growth is limited
Omdia estimates that the tandem OLED panels market share in the laptop and tablet display market grew from almost nothing to over 30% in 2024, thanks to Apple's adoption of tandem stack OLEDs in its iPad Pro models.
Omdia expects the tandem OLED IT market share to again increase in 2026 to 36% when Apple is expected to introduce its first OLED laptops. However in the longer run, Omdia says that the market share is expected to contract, mostly due to the increase cost of ta tandem panel, but also due to some of the trade-offs in the architecture - for example these panels tend to suffer from degraded image quality because of the variation in emitter emission between the two stacks.
Apple to exclusively use SDC's OLED displays in its 2026 foldable iPhone
According to industry reports, Apple is set to launch its first foldable smartphone in 2026, and the company will exclusively use foldable AMOLED displays produced by Samsung Display.
Apple usually dislikes having an exclusive supplier for any of its components, but in this case it seems as if SDC's technology superiority in the field of foldable displays (especially around the minimization of the screen crease) has forced Apple to use only SDC displays.
DSCC: the foldable smartphone market will decline in 2025, but will rise sharply in 2026
DSCC (Counterpoint) estimates that the global foldable smartphone market increased by only 2.9% compared to 2023, and it is set to decline slightly in 2025, mostly due to an unusually weak sales of Samsung and Oppo foldable smartphones in Q4 2024. Samsung's tough quarter was due to political instability. This will be the first year ever in which foldable OLED smartphone sales declined.
In 2026, though, DSCC forecasts a massive turnaround, as Apple is set to ship its first foldable phone, and other makers are set to launch new clamshell smartphones.
Apple to introduce its first OLED laptops in 2026, according to Bloomberg
According to Bloomberg, Apple is planning a large overhaul to its MacBook Pro laptops in 2026 - where one of the major new features is the adoption of OLED displays. These will be high-end tandem 14-inch and 16-inch AMOLED displays, similar to the ones used in Apple 2024 iPad Pro devices.
In addition to the Macbook Pro OLED laptops, Apple will also introduce new MacBook Air laptops in 2026, also with OLED displays - but these will use a single-stack OLED.
ETNews: Apple to use Samsung' latest OLED material stack in all of its iPhone 17 models
According to ETNews, Apple will use Samsung Display's latest OLED material stack (the M14) in all of its four iPhone 17 models. In the previous year's series (the iPhone 16), only the two higher-end modules (the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max) used the M14.
the iPhone 17 series will include four models: a 6.1" iPhone 17, a 6.6" iPhone 17 Air, a 6.3" iPhone 17 Pro and a 6.9" iPhone 17 Pro Max. It is expected that Samsung will be the largest supplier to the iPhone 17 series, shipping between 80 to 90 million AMOLED panels. It is likely that LG Display will supply the rest of the panels to Apple.
UBI: OLED smartphone panel shipments to reach 1 billion units in 2026
UBI Research estimates that OLED smartphone panel shipments will reach 857 million units in 2024 (out of which 24 million were foldable OLEDs), up 26% from 677 million units in 2023.
UBI says that the market will continue to grow in 2025 by 9% to reach 910 million units. Foldable OLED shipments will grow 27% and reach 38 million. The growth in foldable OLED shipments will continue in the future as Apple is expected to launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026. The market will reach over 1 billion panels in the first time in 2026.
