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OLED Supplier Sees Fourfold Leap in Orders as Apple Gears Up for 2017 iPhone

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As Apple gears up to introduce OLED displays in the 2017 iPhone, the impact is already being felt in the company's supply chain. During a recent earnings call, Applied Materials, a company that creates equipment for making displays, reported a fourfold increase in orders.

According to Bloomberg, the growing demand for new display manufacturing equipment from Applied Materials serves as evidence that display makers are retooling their processes to produce OLED displays for Apple's line of iPhones in 2017.

iphoneconceptimage.jpg
Edge-to-edge iPhone concept image via ConceptsiPhone​

Applied Materials executives did not mention Apple by name during the earnings call, but CEO Gary Dickerson dropped some hints in a statement given to Bloomberg, pointing towards long term, sustainable growth and naming the "leader" of mobile products.
"It's not a peak or a one-time event," said Applied Materials Chief Executive Officer Gary Dickerson. "This is going to be sustainable growth. We all know who is the leader in terms of mobile products."
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Applied Materials says it takes as long as three quarters to build, deliver, and install its machines, so a ramp up in purchases now means display suppliers are preparing to make some major changes in the coming months.

There are a wealth of rumors suggesting Apple will debut OLED displays in the 2017 iPhone. Apple has already inked a deal with Samsung to secure 5.8-inch OLED displays for future iPhones, and the company may also be preparing to purchase displays from suppliers like AU Optronics, LG Display, and Sharp. Apple is the largest customer for Sharp, LG Display, and Samsung, and all three companies have ramped up display spending in recent months, according to Bloomberg.

An OLED display would eliminate the need for the backlighting that's used in traditional LCDs, allowing Apple to cut down on the thickness and weight of the display used in the iPhone 7. OLED displays also offer better contrast ratio, truer colors, improved viewing angles, better power efficiency to maximize battery life, and a faster response time than an LCD for faster refresh rates.

While the 2017 iPhone is more than a year away, there have already been dozens of rumors about the device due to the significant changes Apple is planning to introduce. Some of the features rumored for the 2017 iPhone (perhaps called the "iPhone 8") include wireless charging, an edge-to-edge bezel-free display with an integrated Touch ID fingerprint sensor, a glass body, and more advanced biometric features.

Article Link: OLED Supplier Sees Fourfold Leap in Orders as Apple Gears Up for 2017 iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/05/23/oled-supplier-increased-orders-2017-iphone/
The headlines keep saying "2017 iPhone" rather than "2017 iPhones" because only the bigger model gets all the goodies :mad::(
 
Has Samsung already used OLED for its Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge?
I think it's AMOLED but not sure whether they're the same or not.
 
AMOLED speculation aside, who on earth thought that there'll be an iPhone screen which covers the ENTIRE front glass surface area, bar the front camera, prox/ALS and earpiece? Go back to design school... or maybe just enroll there, period, and possibly take up engineering and some form of human interaction study, you NEED it. Failing that, you'd be a good candidate for helping with Samsung's El Bizarro designs.

Wow, what a messy, unrealistic concept.
 
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If all of this is true, it would be highly foolish to invest in an iPhone 7 this year. Worse yet, I feel like the 2017 iPhone will be a year or two late to the party that Samsung is about to throw in 2016. Apple has some serious catching up to do when it comes to innovation.
 
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Would be interesting to see new OLED or AMOLED displays in other Apple devices like new iPads and MacBook Pros. And if Apple demand for this tech constrains supply for competition.
 
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uid15 said:
AMOLED speculation aside, who on earth thought that there'll be an iPhone screen which covers the ENTIRE front glass surface area, bar the front camera, prox/ALS and earpiece? Go back to design school... or maybe just enroll there, period, and possibly take up engineering and some form of human interaction study, you NEED it. Failing that, you'd be a good candidate for helping with Samsung's El Bizarro designs.

Wow, what a messy, unrealistic concept.
Click to expand...
THANK YOU!!!

Thought I was going insane. Can't believe how many people were going gaga over this ridiculous concept the last time it popped up on an article.
 
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uid15 said:
AMOLED speculation aside, who on earth thought that there'll be an iPhone screen which covers the ENTIRE front glass surface area, bar the front camera, prox/ALS and earpiece? Go back to design school... or maybe just enroll there, period, and possibly take up engineering and some form of human interaction study, you NEED it. Failing that, you'd be a good candidate for helping with Samsung's El Bizarro designs.

Wow, what a messy, unrealistic concept.
Click to expand...

The other piece that just never seems to come up when the conversation about OLED goes to its energy savings due to not needing a backlight, is that to energize enough diodes to create white light, for basic things like the background on most web sites and emails, an OLED panel uses more energy. So unless we're all going to be ok with having emails and websites go dark with white text, OLED isn't some energy saving angel that some tout.
 
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Edd.Dantes said:
I bet they change their release cycle, real fast.

2016 is gonna be a bust. Expect June, or earlier, next year.
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Well, a June 2017 release of a new iPhone design with a great new display would be perfect timing for Apple after Tim & Co walk down iPhone memory lane at the beginning of the presentation. Imagine the crowd watching clips of the various iPhone introductions including those by Steve, including the landmark first one in 2007. Then Tim says now it's time to introduce a new redesigned iPhone which Steve would be proud of...
 
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