Nokia was once the world's leading mobile phone company. They were late to the smartphone revolution, and the company's mobile phone arm was sold in 2013 to Microsoft. The Nokia phone brand was sold by Microsoft in 2016 to HMD Global, a new company founded by ex-Nokia executives.
Nokia's first OLED phone
Back in 2006, Nokia introduced the 6215i phone that was actually a re-branded clamshell Pantech PN-315 handset, for the Verizon network in the US. The phone had a 65K, 97x64 PMOLED subdisplay.
Nokia AMOLED phones - past and present
In its Symbian days, before the rise of the modern smartphone, Nokia released several AMOLED Symbian phones to the market - such as the N85 and the N86, the N8 and the E7 and the C7. In most of these AMOLED phones, Nokia used their ClearBlack Display technology (CBD) - which adds a polarized filter to the AMOLED and is said to deliver better outdoor visibility.
Nokia N86When Nokia abandoned Symbian in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, they continued to use OLED displays in most of their phones - the latest one was the Lumia 930, the flagship 2014 Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone. The Lumia 930 has a 5" Full-HD Super AMOLED ClearBlack display, a 2.2 Ghz quad core CPU, 20 MP PureView camera (with optical image stabilization), Qi wireless charging and NFC.
HMD Global, who now owns the global Nokia smartphone brand, has released several new smartphones - one example was the Nokia 8 Sirocco in February 2018 - with its flexible (edge-type) 5.5" 1440x2560 (534 PPI) P-OLED display - reportedly made by LG Display. In 2022 the company announced the X30 Android smartphone, with a 6.43" 90Hz 1080x2400 AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset, 6/8 GB of RAM, 128/256 GB of storage and a dual camera setup. The X30 is shipping, starting at around $500 (Note: link to Amazon.co.uk).
Nokia OLED research
Nokia was also engaged in high-end OLED research. In June 2014, for example, Japan's Semiconductor Energy Laboratory, in collaboration with Nokia unveiled a new foldable OLED display - see image below.
The latest Nokia OLED news:
Engadget says that N9 uses a Clear Black Display, is "a sight to behold"
Engadget posted a short hands-on review on the new Nokia N9. They claim that the display uses Nokia's Clear Black Display (CBD) technology - although Nokia's own press release never mentioned that. CBD adds a special filter on top of the display which blocks light reflection - and helps the AMOLED perform better outdoors.
In any case, Engadget say that the AMOLED display "is truly a sight to behold, with stunning viewing angles, a curved Gorilla Glass front, and some pretty excellent (for AMOLED) performance out in the sunlight... It's easily one of this new phone's great strengths".
Nokia Astound (C7) now available for free (with a T-Mobile plan)
T-Mobile now offers the Nokia Astound for free (with a contract of course). The Astound offers Symbian^3, a 3.5" 640x360 AMOLED display and a 8mp camera that can record 720p video. Other features include 8GB of memory, GPS and Wi-Fi.
LG Display: ramping up AMOLED production, will test large panel production in 2011, TVs coming middle 2013
LG Display released their quarterly results, and discussed their OLED program in the conference call. The company indeed started small AMOLED production at the end of Q1 2011, and are currently making 4,000 substrates a month (in a 4.5-Gen fab, which is about 500,000 3" displays). This will be increased to 12,000 a month by the middle of 2011. At the moment, LGD does not have more plans for capacity growth (for small-sized OLEDs). This confirms the earlier reports we heard in February.
LGD currently provide AMOLED panels to 'major global customers' (including Nokia, which was more of less confirmed in the conference call). In the middle of 2011 LG Display will also provide AMOLED screens to LG Electronics.
Nokia's E7 to ship in the US on March 31st for $679 unlocked
You can now order Nokia's E7 smartphone for $679 unlocked over a Amazon.com. The phone will start shipping on March 31st. The E7 is a QWERTY slider running the latest Symbian^3 OS. It has a 4" Clear-Black AMOLED (640x360), 8mp camera, 16MB flash memory, 720p video recording, FM radio, W-Fi and GPS.
T-Mobile launches the Nokia Astound (C7) with a 3.5" AMOLED
Update: The Astound is now shipping - and it's actually free with a T-Mobile contract.
T-Mobile USA launched the Nokia Astound - a rebranded C7. The hardware is the same as the C7 but Nokia made some changes to the software - added a QWERTY keyboard with Swype and upgraded the browser. The Astound also has free Ovi Maps GPS with US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean maps pre loaded. The Astound will start shipping on April 6 for $79.99 (with a contract, after rebate). If you don't want to wait, you can buy the C7 unlocked for $549.
The Nokia C7 is running on Symbian^3, and has a 3.5" 640x360 AMOLED display and a 8mp camera that can record 720p video. Other features include 8GB of memory, GPS and Wi-Fi.
Digitimes - AMOLED shipments reached 13.5 million units in 3Q 2010, up 132% from last year
Digitimes says that AMOLED display shipments reached 13.5 million in 3Q 2010 - up 132% compared to last year and up 65% from 2Q. In terms of revenue, AMOLED passed 10% of the total small display market (and reached 10.7%, up from 6.4% in 2Q).
Samsung Galaxy S
The success was driven by smart phone displays, mainly for Samsung and Nokia phones. 4" 480x800 AMOLEDs accounted for 81% of all AMOLEDs sold - 11 million units.
Some Nokia N8 and C7 phones have defective AMOLED screens?
It seems that some Nokia N8 and C7 AMOLED displays are defective. The most common complaint (there are several actually) is that the screen has a purple tint in darker areas. It's not clear yet whether this is a software or a hardware issue. It is speculated that Nokia uses two kinds of displays - although it's unlikely as all AMOLEDs are made by Samsung.
In the photo above you can see the problem (on the phone on the left - the clock and button shouldn't be red!). Nokia hasn't officially recognized this issue, but it seems that more and more users complain.
Nokia starts shipping the E7 - "is by far our most important phone of 2011"
Nokia starts shipping the E7 in several markets (they didn't say which ones), and Ukko Lappalainen, a senior official at Nokia, said that "The E7 is by far the most important model for us this year when looking at sales expectations". The E7 is a QWERTY slider running Symbian^3 and has a 4" Clear-Black AMOLED (640x360) display.
The E7 was supposed to start shipping on December 2010, but it was later delayed and only now starts shipping.
LG started AMOLED production in their new Gen-4.5 line, could launch OLED TVs at the end of 2011 or 2012
LG Display have started mass production of small AMOLED displays in their new Gen-4.5 line. The plant is currently producing 4,000 substrates a month (this will increase to 12,000 by the end of the year - which is about 1.5m 3" displays a month). This production line was announced back in April 2010 with a $225 million investment. A couple of weeks ago it was reported that Nokia will buy AMOLEDs from LG, and LG says it signed contracts with 3 other companies (besides Nokia and LG Electronics).
LG plans for the future are a big confusing. The company originally planned to build a Gen-5.5 OLED plant, but this has changed. The plan now is skip straight to a Gen-8 plant in early 2013 that will make large size panels for OLED TVs (the 2013 timeline for OLED TVs is consistent with earlier reports). The company could launch OLED TVs as early as the end of 2011 (or beginning of 2012) using the existing Gen-4.5 line, these will not be cost effective so it's not clear whether they'll actually do it.
Nokia accepting E7 pre-orders in Finland and Sweden
Update: The E7 is now finally shipping!
Nokia announced today that they are accepting pre-orders for the E7 smart phone in Finland. The E7 was actually supposed to start shipping on December 2010, but was later delayed to 2011. The E7 is a QWERTY slider running Symbian^3 and has a 4" Clear-Black AMOLED (640x360) display.
