Who will Lead Smartphone Display Tech?
Samsung, a leader in hardware (HW) and Apple, a leader in software (SW), are going head to head for next generation smartphone displays. Image quality is one of key factors in consumers’ smartphone selection. It is expected that the two companies’ display technologies will determine the winner and loser.
According to the smartphone industry, Samsung Electronics will apply touch ID-integrated display “Y-OCTA” to the Galaxy S9 to be launched next year, and Apple will launch the iPhone 8 with flexible OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays for the first time and load the iPhone 9 with 6.5-inch OLED displays.
Y-OCTA technology developed by Samsung integrates a touch sensor module on an OLED display module. Combining the two expensive modules also reduces the number of parts and cost. This technology was first introduced in the Galaxy Note 7, but failed to prove its value because the smartphone was discontinued shortly after its launch. Samsung Display is said to be building an additional Y-OCTA production line in preparation for mass production of the Galaxy S9.
Samsung which has been leading a display evolution through the Galaxy S series over the last eight years is expected to set another milestone in the market through Y-OCTA. The first model of the Galaxy series was launched with a 4.0-inch WVGA (resolution 800x480) display in 2010 and an HD display was loaded into the Galaxy S3. In addition, the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S5 featured full HD displays. The smartphone giant brought out the Galaxy S6 Edge with curved designs on both sides. The edge design was applied to all models of the S8 design, realizing the completion of the edge design. “The Galaxy S8 outperforms the iPhone 7 in all aspects such as color temperature, resolution, and aspect ratio,” reported the foreign media including Forbes.
Apple, on the other hand, is trying to bring innovation to the iPhone 8 with the first adoption of an OLED display, not an LCD display. OLEDs are able to realize a bent screen and a side screen, and outshine LCDs and consume less power so the iPhone 8 is likely to come with the largest and brightest screen ever. The iPhone 8 is expected to be a turning point for Apple's display innovation. It will holds the key to the success of the iPhone 8 whether or not Apple will be able to address technological difficulties such as loading OLED displays with built-in touch ID sensors and optimizing SW for OLED displays as the company first adopted OLED displays. Apple is expected to spur innovation such as applying a 6.5-inch OLED display to the iPhone 9 next year and loading OLED displays into all of the iPhone 10 models.
In fact, since introducing the Retina display to the iPhone 4, Apple has not come up with many innovations on the HW side. "Retina display is now too old," Forbes pointed out. That does not mean that the iPhones’ performance is slackening. There is no HW innovation in the iPhone, but consumers still show high satisfaction about the iPhone. Apple develops HW and SW that can be optimized without adapting SW to HW. This has led to stable evolution in sizes, resolutions, and functionality. The screen of the iPhone which was started at only 3.5 inches, grew to 5.5 inches. Apple ameliorated the iPhone’s resolution from 1,334x750 (326ppi) to 1,920x1,080 (401ppi). On the other hand, its thickness dropped from 11.6 mm to 7.1 mm by 4.5 mm.