Apple’s supply chain is expecting the company will launch a new iPhone next year with a supersized 5.8-inch AMOLED display manufactured by Samsung.
Citing Taiwan-based component manufacturers, DigiTimes said Apple will launch 4.7-, 5.5- and 5.8-inch new iPhone models in second-half 2017, with TFT-LCD panels to be used in the two smaller models and AMOLED for the 5.8-inch one.
Samsung will supply up to 20 million AMOLED panels a month, DigiTimes reported, and global shipments of the AMOLED iPhone in 2017 are estimated at 60-70 million units.
The projected sales would be “a lot for a single model and would prove a record- busting year should the other 2017 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models also sell in numbers anywhere close to recent years.”
“This would be a huge reversal in fortunes for Apple which has seen iPhone sales decline consistently in recent years and will build expectation that this premium (and higher priced) ‘iPhone 8’ (as it is being called) will be something to get hearts pounding as the line celebrates its 10th anniversary,” Forbes added.
DigiTimes also said component makers will begin production of the new iPhone in March and increase output in May-June.
The OLED iPhone is expected to be a radically redesigned handset, with key components including the earpiece and Touch ID fingerprint sensor hidden underneath the screen.
“Rumors remain split on the size of the display, however,” AppleInsider said, citing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, who believes that the usable area of the screen could be in the 5.1- to 5.2-inch range.
“The 5.8-inch measurement may include the edges considering the ‘all curve’ display this new larger model is expected to have,” Forbes said, noting that the dual-curved 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 Edge and short lived Galaxy Note 7 “measure 5.5-inches but don’t count the curves in their measurements.”
Source: CFO