The Chinese electronic components producer BOE Technology intends to build a Gen 8.6 OLED panel production line at its B16 factory in Sichuan Province, a report from The Elec has said, so that it can supply OLED panels to Apple for products such as iPads and MacBooks.
The Elec added that the display panel giant was expecting to start producing panels on the new line towards the end of 2024, with a production capacity of 15,000 substrates per month.
Meanwhile, BOE’s rivals over in South Korea – LG Display and Samsung Display – are said to be expecting to use Gen 6 production lines to manufacture their own first OLED panels intended for use in iPads.
It is anticipated that the first iPad model with an OLED display will break cover in 2024, and that after this, Samsung and LG will switch to using Gen 8.5 production lines for the subsequent OLED panels Apple uses for its devices.
The advantage of using larger substrates, such as Gen 8.5, is that it enables a greater number of panels to be cut out per substrate in a shorter space of time.
Meanwhile, the report from The Elec also said that BOE has been testing two-stack tandem OLED technology at its current production lines. Two-stack tandem OLED panels incorporate two emission layers, which can boost the brightness of the panels and give them a longer lifespan, compared to the single-stack tandem structure currently used in smartphone OLED panels.
The distinctive benefits of two emission layers could make them the best option for use in tablets and PCs, which tend to be used for longer periods of time than smartphones.