Notched smartphone displays are estimated to raise manufacturing costs of display panels by more than 20%, according to IHS Markit. The manufacturing cost of the 5.9″ OLED panel with notch design seen in the iPhone X is estimated to be $29, 25% higher than the cost of the 5.8″ full-display OLED panel used in the Samsung Galaxy S9.
A similar cost gap is also found with TFT-LCD — the manufacturing cost of a 6″ notched TFT-LCD panel is estimated to be $19, 20% higher than similar-sized, full-display LCD panels.
Senior principal analyst Jimmy Kim, Ph.D commented:
“Notch cutting should accompany yield loss, resulting in increases in manufacturing cost. In the case of TFT-LCD, a notch design may push up the manufacturing cost, even to the level of rigid, full-screen OLEDs. For OLED panels, the cost increase caused by a notched design seems to be even higher”.
Quarterly shipments of the iPhone X, Apple’s first smartphone model using OLED panels, have reportedly been smaller than previous iPhone models so far, mainly due to its higher selling price, caused by expensive OLED panels. Kim also said:
“Apple seems to be in the middle of manufacturing optimisation. Eventually, the manufacturing cost of notched OLEDs will fall more rapidly than that of notched TFT-LCD. The plastic substrate for OLED is not as brittle as the glass used in TFT-LCD, so it should be easier to cut the notch, theoretically”.
Analyst Comment
A repeated comment at the SID Display Week was that notches will be replaced by holes in the displays in the future. We’ll have more on that in the full report. (BR)
