Filed for Future Claim Chowder: DigiTimes Reports Apple to Use OLED Display in Second-Gen iPads

Max Wang and Joseph Tsai, reporting for DigiTimes:

Apple reportedly has started development of the second generation iPad using the same design concept as for the iPhone 4G, and will use an OLED panel, according to sources in the component industry.

But then they go on to point out that OLED displays of that size are prohibitively expensive:

Kuo noted that the current price of the 9.7-inch LCD panel for iPad is about US$60-70, but the price of a 9.7-inch OLED panel is about US$500. He said the price gap is unlikely to narrow significantly in 2010 or 2011.

In short, their report boils down to “Apple is going to use OLED displays in the next-generation iPad, even though such displays are impossibly expensive.”

(Given what I’ve seen with the Nexus One, I don’t think Apple will ever use today’s OLED, regardless of cost, because of the wild hyper-vibrant color reproduction. Perhaps future OLED displays will solve that problem, though.)

★ Monday, 19 April 2010