Iphone 8: Sharp Expected To Invest Over Half a Billion USD for OLED Production – Next Gen iPhones Getting an Upgrade

Sharp is ramping up OLED production, and why wouldn’t it, seeing as how the manufacturer intends to mass produce them for Apple’s next-gen iPhones.

Sharp Is Looking to Invest $566 Million in OLED Production –It is Not Going to Be for the iPhone 8, According to Sources Close to the Matter

If you’ve used an Apple product, ranging from its iPhones, iPads and MacBook family of products, and if you’re familiar with display tech, you’d know that Apple has continued to incorporate LCD panels inside its devices for as long as we can remember. The time has come to leave out the old and bring in the new and with Sharp investing over half a billion for OLED production, I am under the assumption that it is not just going to be for its future iPhones, but other products as well.

According to the details of the report, Sharp plans to apply the 57.4 billion Yen sometime between April and June 2018 and does not expect the investment to impact its financial results up to March of that year. Previous reports have indicated that Sharp was on a schedule to deliver its first OLED panels to customers before the end of 2017. Unfortunately, it remains unclear if the company plans to maintain the reported timeline, or is able to achieve sufficient yield rates on existing equipment.

While iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus didn’t come with an OLED panel, the company’s iPhone 8 has been heavily rumored to feature this latest display tech, which will only work in its favor. For starters, it will make colors more vibrant and sharper, especially during the daytime, and will consume less energy compared to the previous generation display tech.
Amir Anvarzadeh, Singapore-based head of Japanese equity sales at BGC Partners, in a phone interview, stated the following.

“Apple has unofficially or as a nod encouraged Sharp to go into it. Apple’s general strategy is to increase the competition on the supply side, and dilute the risk exposure to one company.”

Even if Sharp is unable to ramp up output in time for next year’s iPhone, the firm is expected to become a major supplier of Apple’s products. I am assuming that in addition to Sharp, Apple will also be relying upon other firms to mass-produce OLED panels. This helps to keep competition lively not to mention that Apple will receive a nice concession if it decides to partner with two firms instead of one.