Samsung has some competition as LG may be incorporating OLED panels for their new flagship V30 launching later this year.
Last month, it emerged that the “other” South Korean company would be preparing to mass produce curved OLED panels, which may be featured on the LG V30. LG’s increased investment in 6th generation OLED panels a few days ago sent the rumor mill into overdrive, according to Android Authority.
The OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panels would replace LG’s traditional IPS LCD (in-plane switching liquid crystal display) panel, which could be seen on the V20, among other phones. The benefits of using OLED in lieu of an LCD are two-fold, according to WCCF Tech: increased battery life and a brighter color display.
But the panel plans aren’t going to end with the V30, which is the first of LG’s devices that will supposedly incorporate it — and it certainly won’t be the last. The Investor claims that this will be a feature on future flagships and even the LG G7:
Most OLED screens produced at LG Display’s Gumi E5 plant in the second half will be used for its sister firm LG Electronics’ smartphones starting with the V30. Some of the OLED production will be supplied to Chinese phone makers who are hoping to catch up with front-runners such as Samsung and Apple.
But LG won’t be breezing in through the OLED arena, a market which is dominated by 95% by tech giant Samsung. Let’s not forget that Samsung is the primary supplier of OLED panels for Apple. It came to light last month that Apple ordered 70 million display panels from Samsung for the iPhone 8 (it’s rumored that Apple’s flagship will feature a 5.2-inch OLED screen).
Meanwhile, Android Authority pointed out that, unlike Samsung, LG won’t be able to provide OLED screens for iOS devices until 2019, so Samsung is winning that particular race. But there is light at the end of LG’s OLED tunnel … In April, it was reported that Google is investing $875 million (1 trillion won) in LG with the sole purpose of producing OLED panels for Pixel smartphones.
So, it looks like a case of two against two as Google cozies up to LG and Samsung continues to be tight with Apple. It remains to be seen which smart team will win; Clearly, LG is willing to give Samsung a run for their OLED money.
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