AMOLED to become cheaper than LCD in 2 years

AMOLED, the display technology mainly used by Samsung but also featured on other handsets such as the Moto X, is a relatively new player in the market, being used in mobile displays since 2012.

At the beginning, AMOLED was a rather bold move for Samsung, since it consisted of much higher costs to manufacture. Nonetheless, Samsung went on with the move, and the technology advanced a lot until today.

Albeit there being many arguments as to which of LCD and AMOLED are better, one clear advantage of AMOLED is the ability to only turn on a part of the screen, an ability which the LCD panel doesn’t support.

AMOLED displays used to be rather expensive, as you can see in the diagram and had cost up to 3.5 times as much as the equivalent LCD panels. However, the technology has come a long way, and we’re nearing the point in which production costs will be equal, and some say will even tip in AMOLED’s favor.

According to Jimmy Kim of DisplaySearch:

“Until recently there have been few breakthroughs in the production of AMOLED displays, and the OLED industry seemed to be facing hard times. If AMOLED costs fall below LCDs, as expected, it would lead to more opportunities for the OLED display industry, greater competition with LCD, and more choices for consumers.”

It seems Samsung predicts AMOLED's success to widen, as it is opening a new production factory in China, in addition to its current one in South Korea.

Close-up AMOLED

Quick explanation concerning AMOLED displays:

OLED- Organic light-emitting diode

AMOLED- Active-matrix OLED display.

Super AMOLED (SAMOLED)- AMOLED display with integrated touch digitizer, instead of being on top of the display.

WQ- Wide Quad

The newest AMOLED technology, the WQ HD Super AMOLED, 2K display is rumored to be featured on the Galaxy Note 4. We’ll see if it advanced the current trend of lower-pricing.