Anonymous sources told Nikkei that Apple is planning to release three OLED-based smartphones in the second half of 2018. This year, Apple will exclusively use OLED for its most premium iPhone models. This will be a product with a higher screen-to-body ratio and without the traditional home button.
Compared with the LCD displays that Apple currently uses for its iPhones, the OLED panels promise to provide better image quality and higher energy efficiency. Apple will adopt a version with a degree of bendability, which makes them less vulnerable to cracks. OLED screens require no backlight and offer deeper blacks, higher contrast ratio, and better viewing angles. This makes the screens ideal for everything from web browsing to playing games like MobileCasino.co.nz.
Samsung has been using OLED for some many years now and a wide variety of experts consider the Galaxy S7 series to have the best mobile phone display. In the past, we've heard a lot about the promise of OLED for TVs and computer displays but so far these products haven't really materialized. Creating large-sized OLED screens is incredibly hard, which results in very high prices versus typical LCD TVs. This resulted in Samsung dropping its OLED TV plans in favor of LCD.
However, the South Korean conglomerate did invest a lot of billions in expanding and improving its small-screen OLED capacity. Next year, Samsung will reportedly be the sole supplier of OLED screens for Apple iPhones. The Nikkei report notes market watchers believe Samsung is at least three years ahead of competitors in OLED screen technology.
If the rumor is true, the huge demand for Apple iPhones could result in shortages of OLED displays. The iPhone with OLED screen that is expected to ship later this year is anticipated to sell 45 million units this year, about half of what Apple is forecast to sell in the second half of this year. Doubling this in 2018 would put a lot of strain on the OLED market.