LG Display just announced that they will be making a $1.75 billion investment for manufacturing OLED displays which are also rumored to be replacing the LCD panels on the upcoming iPhone 8 in 2017.
OLED displays are already present on several LG smartphones and most of Samsung's offerings including the latest Galaxy S7 Edge. They are also preferred over LCD displays because they are often brighter and more vivid in color.
Another benefit for OLED displays is that they can help save huge percentages of battery juice. OLED displays only light up the parts that are not pitch black which means darker screens and user interfaces would not really consume much power compared to what the LCD panels eat up.
LG Display is investing in creating new production line for their medium and small flexible OLED displays and it will be located in the company's home country South Korea, Engadget has learned. Unfortunately, this does not help confirm whether LG Display will be the ones who will supply the OLED displays for Apple's new iPhone 8 next year.
In addition, the new E6 OLED production line will start in the second half of 2018 which means that it will be long after Apple has already released the iPhone 8. However, it could also mean that LG Display can still supply OLED displays with their current production lines or to provide screens for the iPhone 9 or the iPhone X several years in the future.
LG Display has already announced a net loss of 84 billion won in the recent months, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new $1.75 billion investment could help ramp up their profits in the next decade or so.
Rumors of Apple turning to OLED displays for their new iPhone 8 have also led to speculations that LG Display or Sharp would supply the panels for the smartphones. It could also help push the adoption rate of the screen technology to move on from the once revolutionary LCD displays that are still used in most digital and electronic devices today including TVs and monitors too for both desktop and laptop computers.