What is an OLED display?
An OLED display uses a new technology called OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes). OLED screens are brighter, more efficient, thinner and feature better refresh rates and contrast than LCD or Plasma.
OLEDs are made by placing thin films of organic (carbon based) materials between two conductors. When an electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. Since the OLED materials emit light, a backlight is not required (unlike LCDs).
OLEDs in mobile phones
Mobile phones that boast OLED screens are rapidly becoming more prevalent, with over 500 million AMOLED screens annually - mostly to satisfy demand from mobile phones. Samsung has been using AMOLEDs in its high-end phones for many years, and most phone makers are also adopting OLED displays (including Apple, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Lenovo, Motorola, and others).
OLED displays are advancing quickly, and today smartphone AMOLED displays outperform LCDs in all parameters - except the price which is still at a premium.
For a complete list of smartphones and mobile phones with OLED displays, click here.
Further reading
Xiaomi announced four new AMOLED devices, including two new foldable smartphones
Xiaomi announced four new devices, all with high-end AMOLED displays. First up we have the Mix Fold 4, a foldable smartphone that has a 7.98" 120Hz 3000 nits 2224x2488 foldable LTPO AMOLED display, and a second 6.56" 120Hz 3000 nits 1080x2520 LTPO external AMOLED display.
Xiaomi's Mix Flip is a clamshell smartphone that offers a 6.86" 120Hz 3000 nits 1224x2912 foldable LTPO AMOLED, with a secondary 4" 120Hz 3000 nits 1392x1204 AMOLED display.
Samsung announces the Z Flip6 and Z Fold6 foldable smartphones, and two new OLED wearables
Samsung announced today four new devices - two foldable smartphones, and two smartwatches, all with AMOLED displays. All of these devices will ship on July 24.
First we have the latest clamshell smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip6 - that has a foldable 6.7" 120Hz 2,600 nits 1080x2640 LTPO AMOLED display. It also has a 3.4" 720x748 Super AMOLED cover display.
DSCC: demand for AMOLEDs to increase, but the market will remain in oversupply
DSCC says that the AMOLED industry (mainly smartphones and IT applications) is still in oversupply, and this will remain so until 2028 - but demand is expected to increase faster than capacity and so the oversupply will gradually decline to 2028.
Regarding OLED TVs, demand will increase and fab utilization will improve - but in this market DSCC also sees an oversupply situation to 2028 at least (a surplus of 22% in 2028).
ETNews: Samsung Display to supply its latest M14 AMOLED panels to Apple and Google
ETNews reports that Samsung Display has developed a new OLED stack, the M14 stack, that it will sell to both Apple and Google to be used in their latest smartphones. The new stack improve the efficiency, lifetime and brightness of the display compared to SDC's previous generation stack.
According to ETNews, the new M14 stack will be used int he upcoming iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max. Apple's regular iPhone 16 models will use the previous AMOLED stack, Samsung's M12. Google will also adopt the M14 stack in its Pixel 9 (all 3 model types) and the upcoming Pixel Fold 2.
Is LG Display leading over Samsung Display with the quality and performance of its latest OLED?
Since Samsung started mass producing AMOLED displays in 2007, most people believe that the company is not only the leader in OLED production capacity, but also in the performance of its displays. In most cases, Samsung has been the first company to develop and manage to mass produce the most advanced OLED displays, and the first to adopt the latest OLED materials, architectures, and processes.
There are some signs that this could be changing, although honestly it's a bit too early to know. In May 2024, Apple launched its first OLED Tablets, and according to reports, Apple chose LG Display as its main supplier, ordering around 60% of its iPad OLEDs from LGD (with all of the 13" model orders going to LG), and the rest from Samsung. Later it was reported that Apple had to delay the introduction of its 2024 iPad Pro devices as Samsung faced low production yields and could not deliver displays in time.
DSCC sees OLED market revenues growing 12% in 2024 helped by Apple's first OLED tablets
DSCC says OLED revenues are expected to grow 12% in 2024 and reach $44 billion. OLED panel shipments will grow 18% in 2024. The fastest growing OLED market segments are tablets and monitors.
OLED tablet panel shipments will increase 202% in 2024, and this will result in a 632% increase in revenues, driven mostly by Appe's first adoption of OLED panels in its 13" and 11.1" iPad Pro tablets. OLED monitors will grow slower, but still impressively - 80% in shipments, and 45% in revenues.
Omdia: OLED overtakes LCD and is now the market leading smartphone display technology
Omdia estimates that in 2024, OLED technology has finally overtaken LCD and now holds a market share of 53% in the smartphone display market. OLED penetration is expected to increase to 56% in Q3 2024.
Omdia further says that smartphone shipments have increased 5% in 2023 to reach 1.45 billion units, and the market will continue rising in 2024.
LG Display gets approved to supply AMOLEDs for the iPhone 16 Pro Max before Samsung Display
Reports from Korea suggest that Apple approved LG Display as a supplier for its upcoming iPhone 16 Pro Max, the most advanced iPhone model to be released this year. Interestingly, LGD apparently got the approval before Samsung Display, Apple's main OLED supplier.
If true, this is the first time that Apple approves LGD first. This does not necessarily mean anything, but it does mean that the technology gap between Samsung and LGD is low, if present at all. Samsung has much higher production capacity compared to LGD, note. The two companies will likely produce panels for all four iPhone 16 models, and it is reported that BOE will supply some panels for the two standard iPhone 16 models.
DSCC sees 9.25 million foldable OLED panels shipped in Q2 2024, with Samsung returning to a dominant position
DSCC says that foldable OLED shipments increased 46% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to last year, to reach almost 4 million units.
BOE was leading the market in Q1 2024, with a market share of 48% (up from 43% in Q1 2023). The two leading foldable smartphone models were Huawei's Mate X5 and Pocket 2, using panels supplied by BOE. In fact Huawei had a market share of 55% in the foldable smartphone market.
Visionox shows its latest OLED and MicroLEDs at Displayweek 2024
During Displayweek 2024, Visionox demonstrated many OLED display technologies and panels, and also an interesting microLED prototypes (produced by its subsidiarity Vistar).
Visionox is in the final stages of development of its ViP maskless display production process, and the company showcased some nice ViP smartphone panel prototypes (the technology can be used for any panel size). ViP offers a high improvement in aperture ratio (69% up from 29%) which results in low power consumption and brightness (up to 4X according to Visionox), improved lifetime (up to 6X), improved PPI and more.
