OLED Likely to Lead Smartphone Display in 2017

Apple’s new iPhone for 2017 is expected to get a huge upgrade with bold new designs, celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Reports over the past few months indicated that the new iPhone (perhaps iPhone 8) would feature a new light-emitting diode (OLED) display without bezels and a home button, which could be the biggest screen display update ever. Moreover, alongside its regular 4.7-inch iPhone 8 and 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus offerings, the company would introduce a third, premium model with bigger screen size (possibly 5.8 in). Apparently, due to supply constraints, Apple might include the OLED display for only one version of the new iPhones. (For more information, please refer to ABI Research’s November 2016 Mobile Device News and Rumors Summary)

Apple previously introduced new display features to make iPhones attractive to consumers. In 2010, the iPhone 4 first included the retina display; in 2012, the iPhone 5 took the retina screen to new heights, and the iPhone 6 in 2016 introduced new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen options to seize Samsung’s big screened smartphones market, namely Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Note.

Apple has always selected LCD displays for its iPhones, but its main competitors already moved on to OLED displays. Samsung has been using OLED displays on its flagship Galaxy phones since the Galaxy S and other smartphone makers are also starting to introduce OLED displays. Google’s new Pixel phones also feature OLED displays. OLED displays are starting to gain popularity in the market, as OLED displays are thinner, lighter, and more energy-efficient. They provide better color performance and enable flexible display form factors that allow smartphone makers to introduce more innovative designs, such as foldable phones. Hence, OLED displays would improve Apple’s competitiveness in the future. 

Since 2014, the smartphone market seemed to favor larger screen phones, with the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, HTC, and eventually, Apple stepping into this market because the consensus is thata bigger screen brings more immersive user experience in gaming and video. At present, it appears that the giant phone revolution decelerated greatly, as the smartphone market is dominated by screen size of 5-inch to 5.99-inch rather than the 6-inch or above. According to ABI Research’s latest market data, Mobile Device Historical Shipments byTechnology (MD-MHST-113), of the total 353 million smartphone shipments in Q3 2016, 64% feature a screen display size between 5 in and 5.99 in, with YoY growth of 21.7%. Smartphones of 5.5-inch display sell the best, a segment dominated by Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. However, some people still prefer phones that fit in hands and pockets. In order to satisfy different market demands, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung regularly release two different sizes with every launch of new models.

With screens getting bigger, the resolutions of smartphone are getting higher, as well. The market share of Quad HD and Full HD ends with 44% of total smartphone shipments for Q3 2016, as compared to a share of 37% one year ago. Higher resolutions have several benefits, such as improved experience in display clarity and video recording, but there are still plenty of kinks to work out, such as battery life, overheating and higher costs. Nevertheless, along with an increasing number of smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) headsets hitting the market, a higher resolution display like 4K helps to elevate the viewing experience in VR, making 4K display on smartphones a practical choice.

OLED display is more difficult to manufacture, as it uses more complicated materials and chemical processes. The production is limited at the moment due to the lower yield-rate, so the cost for OLED displays is higher. Nevertheless, OLED is still an appealing technology for smartphone vendors. Apart from the advantages mentioned above, OLED has faster response time, better viewing angles, higher image contrast accuracy, as well as screen uniformity and an always-on display mode. Therefore, despite being more difficult to manufacture, display makers should devote more resources to technology development of OLED and ramp up manufacturing capabilities.