Ever since smartphones and tablets took off, the display has naturally been a big focus for manufacturers to keep customers interested in their new releases and devices. When Samsung burst on to the scene with the original Galaxy S, they did so with a different type of display to their competitors, Super AMOLED, using Organic LEDs to create a much more vibrant and vivid display, Samsung has been trading off of this technology for years now, but they’re not alone, and 2016 has the markings of a big year for OLED displays across the industry.
As Business Korea is reporting, Industry Analysts from IHS predict that there will be 35 Trillion Won (Roughly $28.7 Billion US) invested in OLED production across South Korea, Japan and China across 2016 and 2017, with much of the investment taking place in 2017. While Samsung currently controls about 90% of the world’s OLED market, there is competition coming out of China, with companies like BOE, Truly and Ever Display looking to create even better production facilities over the next couple of years. An industry insider notes that there will be “seven new OLED lines with a capacity of 50,000 panels a month will be put into operation in Korea, China and so on until next year”
AMOLED display have been used in devices from Motorola and others more frequently in the past year, and with more Chinese smartphones breaking into the mainstream, it’s no surprise that production is to ramp up across this year and next. Flexible OLED displays are to be in the spotlight as well, with some analysts predicting that Samsung is to launch a folding smartphone before the end of 2016. Wearables such as smartwatches benefit massively from OLED displays, not only producing more vivid displays, but also extending their battery runtime dramatically. Smartphones meanwhile, could undergo a slight design change in the next couple of years with flexible OLED. The LG G4 had a slight curve throughout the display and the Galaxy S6 Edge had a prominent slope from both the left and right-hand sides to offer something a little different from previous releases.