AMOLED shortage leads Samsung to build $2.1 billion factory, HTC to switch to TFT

June 26, 2010 | By Surur

Samsung AMOLED shortage leads to a shift to LCD by HTC. Samsung has been pretty successful in driving adoption of its AMOLED technology, which allows for production of phones with thinner and brighter screens that use less power.

Unfortunately they are now a victim of their own success, with demand far outstripping supply, reports the KoreaHerald.

“For Samsung Mobile Display, there may be not enough AM-OLED displays to supply to companies other than its affiliate Samsung Electronics,” Kim Sung-in, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said. Samsung Mobile Display has an annual production capacity of 35 million units.

HTC, who has been using AMOLED extensively in its recent Android handsets, appears to be directly affected, with the shortage affecting its ability to keep up with demand. Samsung controls 98% of the worlds AMOLED production.

This has led the company to switch to Sony’s S-LCD technology in some of the handsets. S-LCD is supposed to offer similar performance to AMOLED, and to be be virtually indistinguishable.

Samsung has responded to the shortage by increasing production.

“Our AM-OLED display production lines are running at full capacity,” a Samsung Mobile Display spokesperson said.

Samsung has recently broken ground for a new $2.1 billion production facility inTangjeong, South Chungcheong Province, which should increase its capacity from 3 million to 30 million per month, but it will only go online in July 2011.

The Windows Phone 7 operating system is said to be optimised for OLED technology, and with Samsung being one of the lead Windows Phone 7 OEMs the shortage may affect the launch later this year of new handsets with the technology also.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged amoled, htc, samsung, windows phone 7

hvakrg

Is the WP7 optimization anything other then using black as the "default" color and therefore demanding less power since OLED need less power for black then white?

http://www.facebook.com/Arag0n85 Jose Duque

yes, that's the idea in fact, but that has consecuences into the user interface design. So you will see some kind of behaviours and good programming practices lines about programming for WP7 that says to you to try to use as less colorfull screens as you can in order to keep battery use low.
iPhone4

LOL….. No wonder WP7 UI is so boring…. So the purpose behind if to save battery power??

iPhone 4 on the other hand are more colorful than WP7 and not to mention the use of Retina display making the display much more crisp!

Surur

That did not bother you for the 3 years you suffered a resolution only 40% that of the WVGA almost standard on Windows Mobile, didn’t it?
Seb

Except the iPhone 4 still uses its boring program launcher interface… I was nice when it came out with the first iPhone, but there are much better ones now (HTC Sense for example, both WM and Android, SPB Mobile Shell, etc..)

Do you really buy into the Apple propaganda about all those "revolutionary" new features that have been around for years on other devices?

iPhone4

LOL…. Dun make me laugh dude.

U call iPhone 4 uses a boring interface? So you think BLUE SQUARES and rectangle OK and Cancel buttons? So you think flipping the pages around is good UI??

Yup. I do agree that HTC Sense is a very very nice UI out there. It provides lots of information just on one panel. But take a look at WP7 home screen. Can u see weather report? Can u see stock market rates? Do you see any widgets?? No!

Yes. Although iPhone 4 is nothing revolutionary, but at least, it support task switching! Can u do that in WP7? Any UI for that? LOL……

Surur

Actually, given that the tiles are live, you could easily have a weather report and stock reports there.

The more you know…
iPhone4

Ahh…. We sure see about that.
Seb

Actually, if you look at my post, you'll find out I haven't mentioned WP7 anywhere.
That is because I'm not a Microsoft fanboy, I don't believe everything they make is perfect, and I'm not convinced yet about WP7.

I currently think HTC Sense on WM 6.5.X is still superior than WP7, but I'll have to test it out before I can be sure.

You do know that Task switching has been around for many years on Windows Mobile?
Apple was always saying it was useless until now.

So yes, WM 6.5.X (like I said, I'm not talking about WP7 since it's not my favorite and it's not even out yet) supports task switching, and it's real multi-task, not the iOS 4 limited "multi-task".

http://www.twitter.com/Interframe Interframe

Its worth pointing out that Windows Phone 7 works fine with LCD displays, it is not exclusive to OLEDs, its just the way the OS was aesthetically designed that makes it more more suitable for OLEDs, but it can still work fine on LCDs, so it shouldn't delay the launch.

http://intensedebate.com/people/l3v5y l3v5y

The interface can also be flipped to have white as a base colour, which makes it friendlier for LDC devices…

Diego!

I think is about time HTC invest money in its own company and come up with a development building or manufacture plant where they can create their own hardware and not depend on other companies, which some are also their competition, as is Samsung in this case.

Scan QR Codes, UPC, EAN, Code 39/128 or ITF barcodes on your Windows Phone 7 to find best prices online.

Enjoy slots? Blackjack? Video Poker? Play Crazy Casino FREE!

#1 FREE Solitaire on WP7

If your a fan of Pong then you will love this game. Heavenly Skies. Save the universe! Are you ready?

A rewarding mix of match 3 and tetris gameplay

Free, Live Tile support for Word Of The Day and so much more. Why NOT try it out?

Set up reminders with only two taps. Supports also text reminders and voice reminders.

Download the best puzzle game in WP7 Marketplace for FREE!

Are you a good Alchemist ? Use your brain to discover Atomic Energy, Chuck Norris, Angry Birds and 1400 more !

Fun puzzle game with over 150 levels!

Fully featured, beautifully designed WP7 YouTube app.

u.n.i MEGA PACK (FREE), the ultimate addictive top GAMES bundle for Windows Phone 7! 7+ and growing!

Highly addictive word game designed for adrenaline junkies. Practice locally, but then are you fast enough to compete online?

The smartest Google reader app.

Air Soccer Fever - Realtime Online Multiplayer casual soccer game for FREE

Beat the Story Mode. When your done Bring your skill online. Rank up by winning online matches. Have 1 on 1's with anyone! Global Online Multiplayer!

Newest devices leaks, online charts and ultimate performance benchmark for every Windows Phone.

Every day, get great app deals from Windows Phone developers pushed to you!

Quick Tiles, a fully featured live tile editor for Windows Phone.

Great sports app for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. Pin scores/games to live tile on your home screen.

MobileFax gives you the opportunity to send fax pages from your mobile phone anytime, anywhere !

WP7 Exclusive version of Hanging with Friends

Fabulously fun, lovable, crazy! Bubble Pong Championship

A remake of the classic snake game. The snake wants to grow so don't wait and help her!

Promote your app on WMPoweruser.com