LG Display will spend more than 10 trillion won ($8.71 billion) to build a factory that will produce organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in the South Korean city of Paju, to open in the first half of 2018.
LG Display will spend an initial 1.84 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to build the plant, which will produce both large screens for TVs, and flexible panels for cars and smaller devices such as smartwatches.
Both Samsung and Sony have backed away from using the technology for TVs in favor of LCD panels, but Panasonic has joined LG in supporting the tech, launching its first commercial OLED TVs earlier this year.
But the company thinks they’re still too expensive - in September, Masahiro Shinada, head of Panasonic’s TV arm, said that it would take OLED TVs two or three years before the market for the technology expanded.
LG’s plans show its continued investment in OLED TVs, but the technology could also become a major source of income, if, as rumored, Apple is indeed planning to adopt OLED technology for its iPhones from 2018.
In a report published yesterday, Nikkei said that LG Display was planning capacity upgrades in response to Apple’s decision, as the American company consulted with display providers to secure a stable source of OLED screens.
LG Display has not commented on the rumors, but the company already has a relationship with Apple, reportedly providing it with the OLED displays used in the Apple Watch.
Source: The Verge
Apple’s New OLED Patent Causes Ripples in the Stock Market
Apple acknowledged a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) patent for a Fingerprint Reader under the Display of an iPad and investors decided this was proof that the company would soon embrace OLEDs on their handheld products, so UDC’s stock went way up.
Apple’s Most Advanced OLED Display Invention to Date
November 19, 2015, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals their most advanced OLED display technology to date for an iDevice.
Apple reveals a unique silicon-OLED display that will be brighter and thinner while allowing them to integrate a fingerprint reader under the display that could elimination the need to use the Home Button for Touch ID if they so choose.
An integrated Silicon-OLED display and touch sensor panel could also be coupled with one or more fiber optic magnifiers to achieve a portable electronic device with extended touch and display capability.
Source: Patently Apple
Related: Apple Culture of “What Are You Going to Do Next?”