For Vivo and Xiaomi as well
Oppo’s pushed backed to later date

Image: Samsung Display

Samsung Display will begin production of foldable OLED panels for customers Google, Vivo and Xiaomi in October, TheElec has learned.

The three companies are planning to unveil their respective foldable phones in the fourth quarter this year.

Google is preparing a foldable phone with a 7.6-inch in-folding display panel.

The phone has been dubbed “Pixel Fold” by the media.

Vivo’s model will have an 8-inch main screen and a 6.5-inch outer screen.

The 3.4 to 3 ratio 8-inch main screen will be manufactured by Samsung Display at its A3 factory lines at its Asan plant in South Korea.

The 6.5-inch outer screen will be made by BOE at its B7 factory line at Chengdu.

Samsung Display will also be making the main screen for Xiaomi’s foldable phone. CSOT will be making the accessory screen.

Xiaomi launched its first foldable smartphone Mi Max Fold in March. The in-folding Mi Max Fold has an 8.01 inner screen and a 6.52-inch outer screen.

Earlier in 2019, the Chinese smartphone company unveiled Mix Alpha, a prototype foldable phone that had an out-folding display panel. The 7.92-inch screen was made by Visionox.

Oppo’s foldable phone has been pushed back to 2022. The company has been collaborating with Samsung Display for the in-folding, clamshell display panel. The panel has a 7.1-inch screen when unfolded. It is being planned to have an outer screen between 1.5-inch to 2-inch in size. The panel is planned to have low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LPTO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology applied.

Oppo last year unveiled a 7.7-inch foldable prototype that had an out-folding display panel. The Chinese firm collaborate with Samsung Display, BOE and Visionox to develop a foldable panel last year. It is now only collaborating with Samsung Display for the newer phone.

Huawei had planned to use Samsung Display for its foldable panel procurement, but this talk has been canned, people familiar with the matter said. Huawei had used BOE for the foldable panels in Mate X and Mate X 2. These panels were made in B7.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics is planning to launch two new foldable smartphones this year. It is aiming to ship 6 million to 7 million units of them.

Last year, the company moved 2.5 million units of foldable phones. Samsung Electronics is Samsung Display’s only meaningful customer in terms of revenue as of yet. If Apple joins in, this will likely be a boon for Samsung Display to expand production capacity.

Source : THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry Media(http://thelec.net)