Bad News for Japan: All New iPhones Will Have OLED Screens
Apple has already “fired” Japanese manufacturers and will continue to cooperate with China and South Korea
Starting in 2025, US-based Apple will use organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens for all its gadgets instead of the old and outdated liquid crystal (LCD) screens that the Cupertino-based company has so far continued to use for its lower-tier cell phone models.
According to Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia, the rejection of LCD screens will mean the end of a long business relationship between Apple and Japan Display and Sharp, the two largest Japanese suppliers of these critical components for iPhones.
In the past, these two Japanese companies “collectively owned 70% of the bright screens on iPhones,” but in recent years, as Nikkei Asia notes, Apple has switched almost all of its models to OLED screens, except for cheaper models.
Currently, South Korea and China are the two unequivocal leaders in advanced OLED screen production. According to some very informed sources quoted by the Japanese newspaper, “Apple has already placed orders for the screens of the new iPhone SE with China’s Boe Technology Group, as well as South Korea’s LG Display.” Over the past two years, Apple has gradually shifted its iPhone assembly plants from China to India.
