More and more reports suggest that Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup (to be introduced in September 2018) will include two OLED models and one LCD models. A few days ago it the Nikkei Asian Review said that Apple's 2018 OLED iPhone launch orders will be 20% lower compared to 2017, amounting to 80 million panels.

Now the Korean site The Bell says that Apple ordered 45 million 6.5" OLED panels from SDC for the iPhone Xs Plus and only 25 million for the smaller 5.84" iPhone Xs - to a total of 70 million panels. For the lower-end LCD model, Apple ordered only 30 million panels from Japan Display.

In July 2017 LG Display announced that it has decided to build a 8.5-Gen (2200x2500) OLED TV production line in Guangzhou. The Korean government hesitated whether to approve this plan, as it sees OLED as a strategic technology Korea' economy, but by the end of 2017 LGD got the approval for its new OLED TV fab.

LGD is still waiting for an approval from the Chinese authorities, and according to today's Korea Times report, the Chinese government is expected to approve LG's plans. Apparently China hesitated as it aims to help the country's own OLED industry, but it hopes that local companies will benefit with a close partnership with LGD.

Motorola has been granted an interesting patent that aims to solve screen deformation with foldable displays. Motorola says that one of the issues with foldable displays is that they deform in low temperatures.

Motorola suggests using a temperature sensor that detects when the display is deformed, and then the hinge is heated so that the display is automatically corrected. This could be used to create foldable OLEd phones that bend both inward and outwards, and can work with more than one hinge (so that you can fold a display several times).

Kyulux and Wisechip unveiled a flexible PMOLED display that uses Kyulux’s Hyperfluoresence yellow emitter. Wisechip says that the power consumption of this display is almost half of Wisechip's regular fluorescent yellow PMOLED.

The first flexible HF PMOLED is a 1.71" 256x64 display, that is now ready to be produced (Wisechip says this will enter mass production before the end of 2018). Wisechip originally aimed to introduce its first glass-based HF yellow emitter PMOLED by the end of 2017, but it seems they decided to jump straight to a flexible panel.

The display industry's top conference, SID DisplayWeek 2018 took place at the end of May in Los Angeles. As always, we found this trade show to be very interesting - especially as OLED is quickly becoming the technology of choice for many applications. SID also gave us the chance to check out other technologies such as Micro-LEDs, next-gen e-paper displays, quantum dots and more. Here's a list of all our articles from SID:

• Samsung Display - rollable, transparent, automotive and more!
• Samsung Display - new VR AMOLED displays
• LG Display - VR OLEDs, 77" transparent and flexible panel, and more!
• BOE - flexible and foldable AMOLEDs
• BOE - 0.39" FHD OLED microdisplay
• BOE - ink-jet printed OLED prototype
• Visionox - PMOLED and AMOLED prototypes and displays
• Visionox - transparent OLED prototype
• Visionox - blue TASF OLED device
• Tianma - foldable, flexible and rigid AMOLEDs
• AUO - OLED and Micro-LED prototypes and displays
• Kyulux/Wisechip - 1.71" flexible Hyperfluoresence PMOLED
• Futaba - automotive, flexible and transparent PMOLEDs
• The Fraunhofer's LOMID 1-inch OLED microdisplay
• Amorphyx's quantum-tunneling display backplanes
• The EU's €14 million Lyteus OLED lighting initiative
• Coherent summarizes the differences between LCDs, OLEDs and Micro-LEDs

Researchers from Penn State University have demonstrated 3D OLED lighting devices, inspired by the Japanese Kirigami art of paper cutting the folding.

The researchers started with flexible OLED lighting devices produced on thin plastics, which they then cut and folded to create lighting-emitting 3D structures.

UBI Research says that Samsung Display's OLED shipments dropped 26% in Q1 2018 (compared to Q4 2017) to reach 88 million units (that's 4.7% lower than Q1 2017), generating $5.37 billion in revenues (down 32.4% from last quarter and 30.4% from last year). Revenues and shipments are expected to recover, though, in Q2 2018.

UBI says that Samsung Display will hold a market share of 93.4% of the total OLED market in 2018.

In the past months, several reports suggested that Samsung is getting ready to release its first foldable device in early 2019 (production will actually towards the end of 2018). According to Korea's Golden Bridge Investment, Samsung's foldable phone could cost around $1,850 at launch.

GBI also confirms earlier report that the device will have two displays, the foldable inside display and an outer display. Previously it was said that each unfolded display will be 3.5-inch in size, but GBI says that the folded display's size will be 4.5-inch, while the unfolded large display will be 7.3-inch.

Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) says that in Q1 2018 OLED revenues dropped 33% compared to Q4 2017 (but grew 39% compared to Q1 2017) and amounted to $5.9 billion. DSCC says that OLED revenues will decline further in Q2 2018 but will recover in the second half of 2018. Full-year revenues are expected to reach $26.95 billion, while the market will reach $57.2 billion by 2022.

Samsung Electronics was the top OLED customer in the first quarter, and together with Apple (#2) the two companies consumer 79% of all OLED panels by revenue.

In early 2018 HiSense said that it plans to introduce its first OLED TV in the first half of 2018, and according to Digitimes LG Display started shipping OLED TV panels to Hisense, which aims to actually ship its TV in Q3 2018.

HiSense 2014 OLED TV prototype

HiSense is China's largest TV producer with a market share of around 15% in the over-$2,000 segment. Hisense has been demonstrating and promising OLED TVs for a long time (in 2014 the company demonstrated its first 55" OLED TV prototype, and in 2011 the company aimed to release a 15-inch OLED "TV"). This time however, it seems that the company will follow through.