According to a report from Pulsestacks on May 24th, Apple seems to be planning to gradually transition its entire iPad lineup to OLED displays, with the newly released M4 iPad Pro being the first experimental product.
Based on supply chain information from Naver, Samsung Display is accelerating the expansion of its ITOLED business and has recently started developing OLED panels for the iPad mini. However, the current development project is in its early stages, with the industry expecting its target production date to be in 2025.
Industry insiders point out that the project is of great significance and serves as a stepping stone for Samsung Display to expand its IT OLED business. It is reported that Samsung Display plans to mass-produce such panels on the Tianan A2 production line, with the next model to adopt this technology expected to be the iPad mini 7. According to pulsestacks, the A2 production line is currently mainly used to produce 5.5th generation rigid OLED panels.
However, the sources did not mention whether the iPad mini 7 will use a double-layered series-connected OLED display, but in order to reduce costs, Apple is unlikely to introduce this technology to the iPad mini in the short term.
Insiders also mentioned that Samsung Display plans to supply 4 to 5 million OLED panels for the 11-inch iPad Pro model this year. Although the price of IT OLED panels is 3 to 4 times higher than OLED panels used in smartphones, the shipment volume of such products is also much lower than in other industries.
An industry insider explained, "As the direction of the OLED business shifts from existing smartphones to IT, Samsung Display seems to be focusing on this area internally as well," even if the panel prices have slightly decreased.
