LCD phones not working? Samsung to end production

Samsung is ending production of LCD screens, which means companies like Apple will likely move exclusively to OLED or other newer types of displays.

A report from Reuters (via TechRadar and AppleInsider) says that Samsung Display, the part of the Korean company responsible for making screens for smartphones as well as many other devices, will end production of LCD screens in South Korea and China by the end of the year. The company had already suspended operations in October due to a surplus of screens due to falling demand for TVs and phones.

Samsung Display supplies screens for a number of different smartphone manufacturers, including Apple's iPhones and OnePlus devices such as the OnePlus 7T. It has a hand in enabling many of the exciting display features we love, such as high refresh rates, curved edges, and transparent sections for on-screen fingerprint sensor scanning.

While Samsung and OnePlus have been on the OLED bandwagon for some time, we've heard rumors that Apple will be moving to a full OLED lineup for the iPhone 12 this year. The company has kept at least one cheaper LCD option around for the past few years, such as the iPhone 11 or iPhone XR.

LCD (liquid crystal display) panels have become fairly cheap in recent years thanks to the use of brighter and sharper OLED displays. But even many budget smartphones have adopted OLED screens.

With this move by Samsung Display, it is possible that more phones can take advantage of the better image quality that OLED panels provide. Phones with OLED screens also benefit from potentially better battery life, thanks to the screens' ability to display blacks by turning off pixels rather than filtering the backlight as LCD screens do.

One of South Korea's LCD plants will see significant investment over the next five years as Samsung plans to convert its production line to instead make quantum dot displays, also known as QLED. Quantum dot displays (found in many Samsung TVs) not only produce excellent picture quality, but are also more flexible than OLED panels, making them ideal for future foldable devices from Samsung, Apple and many other manufacturers.