Apple unveils OLED panel iPhone 13
Supplied 2 types of OLED panels to Samsung D and 2 types to LGD
2nd year of sweeping new iPhone OLED panels
Apple CEO Tim Cook held a new product launch event online at Apple Park, California on the 14th (local time) and introduced the new smartphone ‘iPhone 13 series’. AFP.
With Apple unveiling the new iPhone, attention is focused on major domestic display makers included in the supply chain. Korean companies Samsung Display and LG Display(20,250 -0.49%)It is known that 100% of the supply was supplied to the iPhone 13 series, which adopted organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels for all home appliances.
According to the industry on the 16th, Samsung Display supplied OLED panels for mobile use to the premium iPhone 13 Pro (6.1-inch) and Pro Max (6.7-inch) models among Apple’s new smartphone ‘iPhone 13’ series. LG Display has decided to supply OLED displays to the two entry-level models, the iPhone 13 regular model and the mini.
Apple used 100% OLED panels from Korean companies in its previous iPhone 12 series. Samsung Display supplied OLED panels for the Pro line and Mini, and LG Display for the general type.
Samsung Display has been supplying OLED panels to Apple since the iPhone X model in 2017. In recognition of its technological prowess, it is known that it was selected as the exclusive supplier of OLED display for this iPhone 13 premium model. LG Display has also been supplying small and medium-sized OLED panels to Apple since 2019.
All 4 types of iPhone 13 series use OLED panels, and 120 Hz (Hz) scan rate is adopted for 2 types of Pro line, which uses low temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin film transistor (TFT) method. The 120Hz refresh rate consumes battery power, so Apple has delayed its adoption. The LTPO TFT method, which Apple has patented, is known to improve picture quality while reducing power. Samsung Display is already Samsung Electronics(77,000 +0.52%) It has supplied this panel to the smartphone ‘Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’ model.
LG Display, which only participated in the general model in this new product, is currently developing related technologies. China’s BOE, which had been supplying panels to Apple, was excluded from the supply chain for this new product because it failed to meet Apple’s demand for low-power and display-touch integrated panels.
According to Bloomberg, Apple has set its iPhone 13 series production plan about 20% higher than its predecessor, the iPhone 12 series, which was the first 5G smartphone to be successful worldwide. This is because the 5G infrastructure of each country, including Korea, China, and the United States, has improved compared to last year.
Park Chan-ho, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, observed that “Apple’s annual shipments are expected to reach 240 million units, a 20% increase compared to the previous model due to increased demand for 5G.” This surpasses the 2015 production (231.5 million units), which was the largest iPhone ever produced.
Since the iPhone 8 series launched in 2017, Apple has started to install OLED panels in smartphones, and has been reducing the proportion of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and steadily increasing the proportion of OLED adoption. For the Pro line, OLED was mainly applied to general, entry-level (SE), and older models. The industry is predicting that iPhone shipments equipped with Apple’s OLED panel will increase by more than 60% this year compared to last year.
According to market researcher Omdia, the expected shipment of iPhones equipped with OLED this year is 160 million to 172 million units. This is the sum of the older models such as the iPhone 12 and the new iPhone 13 series.
Reporter Noh Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com dong2@hankyung.com
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