What Display Daily thinks: Do we really think that a multi-trillion dollar behemoth death star of a machine like Apple can be innovative? Not in the traditional sense of the word.
It is trying to create growth momentum in the absence of any major changes that would require rapid movements, which it is not capable of executing because the size of the business.
What we do know is that OLED prices are going to come down, which is a good thing for OLED growth, but also leaves with many other questions. For instance, wouldn’t a drop in OLED prices favor Chinese vendors and defeat the whole notion of Korea’s positioning of its display industry?
What the OLED TV business has taught us is that consumers are not quite sold on the premium, no matter the technical arguments. It may not matter so much in the computing sector, the IT display business as we call it, because the display is a big cost in terms of the bill of materials (BoM), but consideration is given more to performance and hardware features.
Also, there seems to be a tendency in the IT segement for emphasis on AI functionality and power in devices, and there’s very little data to indicate what that will mean to demand or upgrade cycles in 2024.
All we know is that Samsung, more than anyone else, is likely to benefit the most from what Apple is going to do with OLEDs in 2024, and in all likelihood, BOE will have ironed out the kinks in its OLED technologies, and should be competitive and in the mix of suppliers.
By the end of 2024, we should expect a surge in investment in OLED manufacturing and capacity from everyone else as the industry feels more comfortable with the likely increase in demand in 2025.
Still makes for a nervy first half of 2024.
Apple, OLEDs, iPads and MacBooks
The conjecture has been swirling around Bloomberg, Apple blogs, and the usual coterie of analysts, but now, we can put the cherry on top with Nikkei’s coverage: Apple is reportedly expanding the use of advanced OLED screens beyond its smartphones to include iPads and MacBooks, potentially leading to the introduction of foldable tablets. This strategic shift, highlighted in a Nikkei Asia report citing multiple tech industry executives, is expected to transform the $150 billion display industry, moving it away from traditional LCD screens.
Bloomberg’s take, however, was a little different. While Nikkei takes the tack that is a display industry game-changer, Bloomberg has the perspective that Apple has not done a good job of upgrading the iPad and it needed to make a big change. So, in combination with the M3 chip, next year’s iPad Pro models are getting the first set of OLED tablet displays from Apple.
