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Samsung Offers Proprietary Y-OCTA Technology to Apple
December 17, 2018 Samsung Display has been the only supplier of OLED displays for the iPhone line and while LG Display and BOE are being touted as potential ‘Samsung competitors” as they begin to enter the Apple OLED display supply chain, Samsung Display continues to remain the only supplier of Apple’s OLED display’s for at least the next cycle 2019 and likely again in 2020. It seems that the expected shipment of 400,000 panels by LGD will not happen in 2018, due a reported quality issue. Using flexible based OLED displays present some benefits and problems to display designers that were not significant when using rigid OLED displays. If the substrate is rigid (glass), designers can place the touch sensor panel on top of the glass that encapsulates the OLED and cover it with a polarizer and the cover glass, which is known as “on-cell”. As an alternative, the touch sensor panel can be placed directly on the OLED, underneath the encapsulation layer, which gives the touch sensor better sensitivity but is harder to manufacture. In both circumstances there are 8 layers needed to build the display. |
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But flexible displays present unique problems for touch as touch sensors technically cannot be placed on a plastic substrate. In order to overcome this constraint, Samsung Display and LG Display developed an additional layer called a base film that is attached to the stack using an adhesive, the touch sensor module is placed over the base film, and another layer of adhesive is used to attach the cover glass. This results in a stack that has 10 layers, with the additional layers representing more expense and longer processing times for this type of flexible display.
Samsung developed newer iterations with the most current being Y-OCTA, which allows the touch sensor module to be placed directly on the thin-film encapsulation layer, cutting the total number of layers back to 8. Not only does this concept reduce material costs and process time, but it is thinner and by keeping the polarizer closer to the cover glass, reduces the distortion that occurs as the display curves around the edges. Samsung Mobile has lobbied to keep Y-OCTA, proprietary to Samsung phones, but recently, SEC decided to allow Samsung Display to offer the technology to other phone makers as SDC is facing new competition. It is likely that new OLED technology will be initially released on Samsung phones, but after a short digestion period, it will be offered into the broader market.
By offering this proprietary touch technology to Apple, Samsung Display pulls further ahead of the competitive ‘pack’, especially given their experience in producing such displays, and while Apple will likely try out the technology on one of the next iPhone iterations, Samsung Display will have a lock on that model. Perhaps LG Display, BOE, or other small panel OLED producers could grab some share of the other potential OLED iPhone model, but meeting Apple’s demanding display specifications is difficult, and if Samsung Display is successful in implementing Y-OCTA technology in the next iPhone, it will add another barrier to the encroachment of other small panel OLED supplier on SDC’s domain.
Figure 1: Touch Screen Designs-Rigid On Cell TSP (left), Rigid In-Cell Touch (right)
Samsung developed newer iterations with the most current being Y-OCTA, which allows the touch sensor module to be placed directly on the thin-film encapsulation layer, cutting the total number of layers back to 8. Not only does this concept reduce material costs and process time, but it is thinner and by keeping the polarizer closer to the cover glass, reduces the distortion that occurs as the display curves around the edges. Samsung Mobile has lobbied to keep Y-OCTA, proprietary to Samsung phones, but recently, SEC decided to allow Samsung Display to offer the technology to other phone makers as SDC is facing new competition. It is likely that new OLED technology will be initially released on Samsung phones, but after a short digestion period, it will be offered into the broader market.
By offering this proprietary touch technology to Apple, Samsung Display pulls further ahead of the competitive ‘pack’, especially given their experience in producing such displays, and while Apple will likely try out the technology on one of the next iPhone iterations, Samsung Display will have a lock on that model. Perhaps LG Display, BOE, or other small panel OLED producers could grab some share of the other potential OLED iPhone model, but meeting Apple’s demanding display specifications is difficult, and if Samsung Display is successful in implementing Y-OCTA technology in the next iPhone, it will add another barrier to the encroachment of other small panel OLED supplier on SDC’s domain.
Figure 1: Touch Screen Designs-Rigid On Cell TSP (left), Rigid In-Cell Touch (right)
Source: SCMR LLC, IHS Markit
Figure 2: Flexible On-Cell Touch (left), Samsung Y-OCTA Flexible In-Cell Touch (Right)
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Barry Young
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