Rumor: Sony is going to buy OLED screens for smartphones from LG Display

Sony is reportedly going to purchase flexible OLED screens for smartphones from LG Display. The news website BusinessKorea reports this on the basis of a source who is said to be familiar with the internal situation at the South Korean manufacturer.

Sony has been buying OLED panels from LG Display for the production of OLED televisions for several years, but now this deal would be expanded so that LG Display will also supply flexible OLED panels for Sony smartphones. It is probably plastic OLED screens. BusinessKorea did not provide further details on numbers or when deliveries would start.

So far, Sony smartphones have mainly been equipped with LCDs, but that may change with the Sony Xperia XZ Pro. Two weeks ago, the Chinese website My Drivers reported that this device may have a 5.7 “ole screen with a 4k resolution, Wccftech reported. The device may be announced at the end of February during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

In contrast to the panels for, for example, OLED televisions, plastic OLED panels do not use a glass substrate, but plastic. As a result, the plastic OLED panels are twice as thin as the glass OLED panels and they are also much more flexible, so that they should last longer and should not break as quickly. This makes them very suitable for smartphones.

Last year, LG Display announced that it would double the production capacity of OLED screens for mobile phones. A total of 6 billion euros will be invested, of which 3.9 billion euros will be used for the production of smaller sheets, with a size of 1.5 by 1.85 meters, intended for plastic OLED panels.