April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Display is beefing up production of organic light-emitting diode panels for tablet PCs, fueling speculation about the pending adoption by Apple’s iPad, ETnews reported on March 22.

The report said the display-making unit of Samsung Electronics is fast replacing its production lines for liquid-crystal displays with those for OELD whose demand is soaring on the wider use in smartphones. 

Samsung, which uses OLED for almost 70 percent of its smartphones, including the flagship S series, plans to launch new tablets and laptops with OLED screens only this year, while Apple is also testing the waters for OLED use in iPads amid the pending debut of its first OLED iPhone, the iPhone 8, in the coming months.

Apple’s OLED adoption is widely expected to affect the overall display trend within the tech industry.

Currently, LG Display, Samsung Display and Sharp supply LCDs for iPad. Samsung, in particular, makes up about 25 percent of the total supply.

While focusing more on larger LCD production for TVs, Samsung is reducing its own LCD production, including supplies to Apple, one of its biggest clients.

The report said Samsung’s LCD supply to Apple is estimated at about 600,000 units in the first quarter this year, only 3 percent of some 20 million units supplied in the same period last year. Market research firm IHS Markit predicts the supply volume would remain at 300,000 to 400,000 units in the latter half of this year.

According to earlier news reports, Samsung will supply a combined 160 million OLED panels for Apple’s new iPhone this year.

For the heavier iPad, Apple is reportedly conducting durablity tests for OLED adoption. Despite benefits in picture quality and energy consumption, OLED is considered less durable compared to conventional LCD.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)