Super Screen Shortage?!
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010Super screens such as the AMOLED and iPad display have been in short supply as of late due to intense demand from consumers. The AMOLED screen heralded by many as the latest and greatest in smartphone viewing technology has been so popular that the makers of the screen (Samsung and LG) have found it harder to keep up supply.
The ever-increasing popular phone manufacturer HTC has been hit hard by the news. Having to opt to switch for something called a ‘super’ TFT LCD screen which will be implemented in to their new batches of HTC Desire, Droid Incredible, and Google Nexus One.
Will the screen be good enough to dampen any perceived loss in quality? Well HTC said in its statement that the new SLCD display technology “offers an exceptional natural balanced colour, clear contrast, broad viewing angles and improved power efficiency”, and that it offers “a comparable visual experience to HTC’s current 3.7-inch displays”.
In truth there really isn’t too much to separate these two screens in terms of quality, both have slight advantages in certain areas and either way you are assured of some of the best picture quality out there. So how does the AMOLED shortage affect Apple? Well It doesn’t! Apple seemed to steer clear of AMOLED’s for this exact reason. Instead they proudly parade there ‘retina display’ technology in the recently released Apple iPhone 4, which is claimed to be the most vibrant, highest-resolution phone screen ever. The problem instead lies in the iPad, the unprecedented order figures of 3.3 million since early April have meant demand for Apples latest baby has meant that supply again has been trying to play catch up.
LG who won the $500 million contract to supply the screens last year have been caught off-guard along with everybody else by the surge in demand. This has caused many tech analyst firms to reforecast there tablet sales for the year. LG’s CEO Kwon Young-Soo said he is considering increasing production of iPad displays, but that LG won’t be able to make enough until early 2011.
It is surprising that there is such demand that would cause shortages at both ends of the mobile tech spectrum, particularly by customers who aren’t usually early adopters of technology seen in the likes of the iPad and super screens. I’m sure though that the problem of being too popular is one that isn’t likely to wear thin any time soon.
