“Apple Inc. has come up with three new iPhone models for next year, including a premium handset that will sport a curved display like the one Samsung Electronics has adopted for its top-of-the-range smartphones,” Debby Wu and Cheng Ting-Fang report for The Nikkei Asian Review citing “a source familiar with Apple’s plans.”
“‘There will be a 4.7-inch model, another that will be 5.5-inches and a premium handset that will be either 5.5-inches or larger equipped with a screen bent on the two sides,’ the source said, adding the first two will continue to have flat screens, like current Apple mobile devices,” Wu and Ting-Fang report. “David Hsieh, a senior director at market reserach specialist IHS DisplaySearch, said that while the premium handset will adopt advanced organic light-emitting diode panels, the other two models will stick with low-temperature poly-silicon panels. Compared with LTPS screens, OLEDs offer sharper color contrast. And while LTPS panels are rigid, OLED displays are flexible and allow manufacturers to create curved and even foldable screens.”
“Hsieh said that Samsung Electronics will be Apple’s sole OLED supplier next year but that the Suwon-based company will not be able to fully meet demand for both itself and its U.S. customer next year,” Wu and Ting-Fang report. “Meanwhile, Jeff Pu, an analyst at Taipei-based Yuanta Investment Consulting, said Apple is likely to give up metal casings for iPhones and shift to a new look — a front glass cover and chassis, joined by a metal bezel for all its handsets next year. The Nikkei Asian Review reported earlier in August that Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn Technology Group, has been developing glass casing technology since last year in the hope of winning orders from Apple orders for the new chassis in 2017.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: More corroboration on those flexible OLEDs for Apple’s 2017 flagship iPhone. The big question: Will 2017 also be Liquidmetal time?
I estimate that Apple will likely spend on the order of $300 million to $500 million — and three to five years — to mature the technology before it can used in large scale. — Dr. Atakan Peker, one of the Caltech researchers who invented Liquidmetal, May 2012
SEE ALSO:
Foxconn working on ‘glass chassis’ yields for 2017 iPhone, sources say – August 9, 2016
Apple supplier LG Display invests $1.75 billion into flexible OLED displays – July 28, 2016
LG Display jacks up spending on OLED display production for Apple ‘iPhone 8’ – July 13, 2016
Samsung Display expected to benefit from AMOLED ‘iPhone 8’ shipments in 2017 – June 30, 2016
Samsung to invest $6.8 billion OLED display investment focused on Apple iPhone – June 20, 2016
Applied Materials’ OLED push capable of sourcing 100 million Apple iPhone displays – June 2, 2016
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]