LG Reportedly Developing Folding OLED Display Panels For Apple's 2020 iPhone
A new iPhone rumor is making the rounds about what the device could look like in the future. This comes before the highly anticipated iPhone X even lands for consumers early next month. The new rumor claims that Apple has teamed up with LG Display to bring a foldable iPhone to market with production tipped to start in 2019. The source of the information claims a 2020 launch date for the device.
The rumor claims that LG Display started a task force within the company to develop a foldable OLED screen for the new iPhone. LG Innotek, the arm of LG that makes components for devices, is said to be working on creating the
A folding OLED display isn't something completely new to LG Display; the company was working on a folding OLED prototype screen a few years back and has been working to improve durability and yield rate since then. The iPhone X will be the first iPhone to sport an OLED screen and that display is built by Samsung.
Anyone who follows the smartphone realm knows that Samsung and Apple are bitter rivals for consumer dollars. Samsung is reportedly working on a folding screen Galaxy smartphone with the key difference being that this device is tipped to debut at CES 2018 in a few months.
LG has OLED production for smartphones underway at a plant it owns in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. The first screens from this production effort will go to LG Electronics for its own smartphones and a few other Chinese smartphone makers. Screens for iPhones aren't expected to enter production until 2019 when a new E6 plant comes online in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Word is that Apple might invest some money in that plant to get more OLED production and sources indicate a tentative agreement is in place with LG Display and Apple already.