Smartphone Displays to ‘Move Rapidly’ Toward 18:9 and Wider Screens, Says IHS

Expect smartphone displays to “move rapidly” toward 18:9 and wider aspect ratios in 2018's second half, said IHS Markit Monday. Smartphones using 18:9 and wider aspect screens are forecast to increase to 66 percent of total smartphone shipments in Q3, up from their 10 percent share in the same period last year, said IHS. After Samsung’s release last year of a Galaxy phone with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio and Apple’s debut of an iPhone with a 19.5:9 screen, “most smartphone brands have similarly followed suit by applying wider aspect screens to their 2018 lineup to keep up with product differentiation,” it said. “Improvements in display technologies have hastened the expansion of the wider screen adoption in smartphones.” Initially, flexible OLED had the advantage for fashioning 18:9 or wider screens, but “rapidly improving designs” have allowed LCD to close the gap, it said.