Apple is expected to use organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for all new iPhones in 2019, according to a report Monday by The Bell. Meanwhile, suppliers Samsung Electro-Mechanics (a parts unit of Samsung) and Interflex are allegedly boosting production of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCB) for iPhone 8, the first iPhone to adopt OLED display technology.
Apple should use OLED screens on about 60 million iPhone units this year and double the adoption next year. By 2019, all iPhones should use power-sipping OLED screens.
The story corroborates analyst reports calling for three new iPhone models in 2017: the OLED-based iPhone 8 packed with advanced technologies and boasting an all-new industrial design and the iterative LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus models.
Nikkei backed The Bell’s report, saying today that the 5.8-inch iPhone 8 model would use OLEDs while other smaller models would come outfitted with liquid crystal displays.
To build FCPBs for iPhone 8, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expanding capacity at its $88 million Vietnamese plant, while Interflex plans a new $86 million investment in the production later this year. Another supplier, BH, is said to enter Apple’s supply chain for iPhone 8 FCPBs later this year.
“Orders for each supplier will be decided when the production starts in April or May,” reads the report.
iPhone 8 function area concept via MacRumors Forum member “deuxani”.
Source: The Bell (Google Translate) via The Investor