Apple iPhone units planned for OLED, suppliers lack ability

Apple has reportedly been planning to bring OLED displays to its next iPhone models, but the lack of supplies from manufacturers may hinder the process. Since OLED displays are difficult to produce, the four largest suppliers — Samsung Display, LG Display, Sharp and Japan Display are lacking sufficient production capacity to make OLED screens for all new iPhones next year, reported Bloomberg.

The supply constraints could only allow Apple to bring OLED in just one variant of the next iPhone, not more than that. KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi-Kuo also cited that some new Apple iPhone may continue to feature LCD display because there won't be enough OLED displays to satisfy the increasing iPhone demand.

“Apple has already figured in there will be high demand for the OLED model and they've also figured out there will be constraints to these panels,” said Dan Panzica, a supply chain analyst at IHS Markit told Bloomberg.

Additionally, latest report from Barclays’ analysts Blayne Curtis and Christopher Hemmelgarn suggests that the supposed iPhone 8 will feature a bezel-less design with curved edges on all sides. The OLED display panels are also reported to allow the iPhone screen to bend at the edges thereby, introducing an all-new, curved-edge design on the sides of the future iPhone. According to Bloomberg's report, Sharp and Japan Display are working on test procedures for OLED screens and seeking to manage expectations.