Consume little power, its image quality is better and were announced as the future, but until now, functional screens have
languished in the warehouses of the
manufacturers. However, the fierce struggle waged by companies in the field of 'smartphones' is making OLED screens will come.
Screens organic light emitting diodes with active matrix (AM-OLED, its acronym in English) are coming slowly and late to the smart mobile phones more expensive, only now that manufacturers use
technology to take advantage in an aggressive business competition and the characteristics that matter more than price.
Samsung Electronics, the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world and leading advocate of this technology, has eight models with functional screens and another 10 expected to launch until the end of the year. Apart from these advantages, more environmentally friendly thanks to a lower energy consumption and higher image quality, the OLED can be flexible.
In turn, the world market leader, Nokia, it offers in its high-end terminals N85 and N86, to fend off rivals such as Research In Motion BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone in the market for smartphones, which have functions similar to a computer simple.
Technology enthusiasts say that while the AM-OLED screens for mobile are between 50 and 80 more expensive than conventional liquid crystal display (LCD), and its price has remained away from mass production, their time might have arrived.
"I think the economy is in some ways irrelevant," said Ben Wood, analyst at research firm CCS Insight cellphone. "It is a real differentiator. Forecast that all the major manufacturers offer devices with AM-OLED 12 months from now," he added.
FACES FACTORY
However, there is a reason why the screens have so far failed to take off: they are more expensive to produce and supply is limited to a few manufacturers, mostly Samsung Mobile Display, which has 97 percent market share.
"I have no doubt that grow in the long run. But I'm not sure if all the players will immediately follow the trend set by Samsung," said Oh In-bum, an analyst at Dongbu Securities.
The attraction of these screens is the thin layer of organic materials that allow them to shine by themselves, unlike the liquid crystal display (LCD), which leads to thinner screens that use less power, respond quickly and have more vivid colors.
Analysts expect the prices to fall with increasing production, removing the biggest obstacle to mass adoption.
"The technologies have been progressing at a pace faster than expected and even in the crisis, consumers are willing to buy high end product," said Kim.
However, some experts have low expectations, because many manufacturers are still comfortable with the mass produced LCD.
Vinita Jakhanwal, iSuppli analyst, estimates that phones with AM-OLED will only 10 percent of the handsets sold in 2013.
"This means that the LCD still has the bulk of the market," he said. "LCD screens are also evolving and improving its performance," he added.