Sony OLED screen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Apple’s public posture about OLED displays and its private actions seem to be at odds.
The whole world has been moving towards OLED displays. As an example, the screen of Samsung Galaxy SIII is AMOLED. The new generation 4K televisions are OLED based. Apple is the only major consumer electronics company that has not adopted OLED technology.
Tim Cook recently described OLED displays as awful. "If you buy things online, you should think twice before you depend on the color of the OLED display. The Retina display is twice as bright as an OLED display”. Cook said, "Some people use OLED displays, but the color saturation is awful."
In 2010 at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference, Jobs touted Retina Display, which relies on traditional silicon LED technology. Jobs said, “You can’t make an OLED display with this resolution, we think it is quite superior.” (See, "Steve Jobs' Failure To See Light In OLED Could Cost Apple.")
While Jobs and now Cook have derided OLED displays, Apple has been steadily filing for patents on OLED and related technologies. Recently Apple hired Jueng Jil Lee, an expert in OLED displays. Lee was previously a senior researcher at LG where he worked on a printed AMOLED television.
The big news yesterday was that LG is investing $656 million to build a new OLED production line. LG is a display supplier to Apple. There is a report from Asia that the odds of Apple iTV launch using OLED have been raised due to the LG announcement.
Apple's arch rival, Samsung, is the world leader in OLED technology and has until recently controlled 90% of the supply of OLED panels. In the past, even if Apple wanted to use OLED technology, it simply did not have availability of OLED panels.
Tim Cook is in part correct about OLED displays. There is a color saturation issue when a display is not properly calibrated. Brightness is not an inherent issue in OLED technology. OLED displays are naturally very bright and vivid. Samsung limits the brightness to reduce power consumption to increase battery life. In Galaxy Note II, the display is better than prior displays in terms of color saturation and brightness. Like any new technology, OLED is improving.
Since Apple has fallen behind in OLED technology, it makes sense for Apple to bad mouth OLEDs while behind the scenes scrambling to catch up.
About Me: I am an engineer and nuclear physicist by background. I founded two Inc. 500 companies, and have been involved in over 50 entrepreneurial ventures. I am the chief investment officer at The Arora Report, which publishes four newsletters to help investors profit from change. Write me: Nigam@TheAroraReport.com. Follow me here. Subscribers to The Arora Report are long Apple from $131 and have already taken partial profits on 90% of the position.
