Sharp brings much-needed competition to mobile OLED display market

That super-sharp OLED display on the latest iPhone XS models comes courtesy of Samsung and LG. The rival Korean manufacturers were pretty much your only choice for the pricey phone screens, but that could be about to change. Apple's LCD supplier Sharp is now jumping on the bandwagon with the release of its first OLED smartphone, the Aquos Zero. Though the handset (pictured above) is only shipping in its native Japan, Sharp's manufacturing shift could bring down the overarching cost of producing OLED displays -- which is good news for consumers that don't want to pay upwards of $700 for the tech.

For its part, Sharp is cautiously optimistic about the move, admitting to Reuters that "the momentum for OLED panels is waning," while pouring 57.4 billion yen ($505 million) into producing them in Western Japan. That's still less than a third of the planned 200 billion yen investment that was announced by Sharp's parent Foxconn back when it acquired the company in 2016.

In the past, Sharp has talked of starting an OLED TV panel alliance with Japan Display -- which is reportedly eyeing a 2019 start for its OLED production line -- in a bid to shake up Korea's dominance. Unconcerned with falling demand, LG is investing a further 7.8 trillion Korean won ($7 billion) into the displays over the next three years. And if anyone has a head-start in the industry its Samsung, which recently unveiled an "unbreakable" OLED panel.

As for the Aquous Zero, the phone packs a 6.2-inch OLED screen, 2992 x 1440 resolution and a 3,000 mAh battery. Inside lurks a Snapdragon 845 octa-core CPU, 6GB RAM and 128 GB storage. And at just 146g, it's fractionally lighter than an iPhone 8.

Via: Engadget Japan

Source: Sharp, Reuters



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2xWZ0EH
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me


Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs?
Read more