Apple Expected to Use LPTO Panels for iPhone 14
Samsung Display and LG Display are expected to supply most of the organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels for the iPhone 14 smartphone, which is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2022.
Samsung Display is expected to exclusively supply OLED panels for the iPhone 14 Pro, according to foreign media outlets such as DSCC, a display-specialized market research agency, and GizChina, a Chinese IT media outlet. Samsung Display accounts for more than 70 percent of the global small and medium-sized OLED panel market.
Samsung Display uses low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LPTO) technology for panel production. The technology was developed by Apple in 2014, but Samsung Display was the industry's first company to mass produce OLED panels using it. Apple is expected to use LPTO OLED panels for the 14 Pro and Pro Max.
LPTO OLED panels are more expensive and more complicated than low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LPTS) OLED panels. But they have softer screens and show a better battery performance.
LG Display, a latecomer in small and medium-sized OLED panels, is also expected to have its presence more felt in 2022. It is expected to supply LPTO OLED panels for the first time in 2022. Industry insiders expect that LG Display will supply LPTO OLED panels for the iPhone 14 Pro Max together with Samsung Display. In 2021, Samsung Display was the only company that supplied LPTO OLED panels for the iPhone 13 series.
LPTO OLED panels produced by Chinese companies are said to be below Apple’s standards.