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Samsung’s plans to dominate the OLED arena appear to have been scuppered by both LG and Apple. After recording second-quarter profits of $721 million, LG has announced that it will pile more than $7 billion into manufacturing facilities to increase it production of both large and small OLED panels. Meanwhile Apple is reportedly readying itself to build its own OLED facility to reduce its dependence on Samsung.
The moves by LG and Apple come after Samsung announced plans to construct the world’s biggest OLED display manufacturing plant. With more than 30 per cent higher production capacity than the company’s current biggest factory, Samsung’s mega-OLED factory would be capable of producing between 180,000 and 270,000 display panels per month. Samsung has also reportedly been expanding its existing plant since the second half of 2015 in order to satisfy demand for OLED displays both internally and from external vendors such as Apple.
However, Apple is looking to distance itself from its rival by creating its own OLED screens, which it wants to roll out across all of its devices by 2019. The iPhone maker has already purchased a number of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machines to build its own organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, according to a report by Korean outlet ET News.
OLED displays have a series of advantages over the LCD alternative. They are generally smaller than LCDs and because they don’t need a backlit panel they can be shaped more easily to create curves. They also increase battery life and don’t waste it on keeping the screen bright.
At the moment, the only problem is making them/ getting your hands on them. Currently Samsung and LG are the only big players in the field who produce enough OLED screens to offload them to buyers. However, Apple’s decision to start manufacturing its own screens may put a spanner in the works of Samsung’s expansion plans. Afterall Samsung’s expansion seems to have been put in place after agreeing to manufacturer the screens for Apple’s much anticipated anniversary iPhone, expected this September.
