Samsung is poised to shake up the laptop market with high refresh rate OLED displays: They're in the company's present and future
What is arguably the world's largest company operating in the pocket technology sector, yet also has a presence in many other areas of modern electronics, has decided to set its sights on high refresh rate OLED displays for laptops through one of its many divisions, Samsung Display.
Samsung announced in January that it would focus on producing OLED technology displays for laptops. The company wrote at the time that OLEDs for laptops are best able to meet a variety of consumer needs: those introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic, then smart working and distance learning that we hope to resort to less and less over time, but also the other "classic" needs, such as streaming video and video games. Now, just a few months later, that promise has moved from words to deeds: mass production of high refresh rate OLEDs for laptops has begun, so it's not long before the first units debut.
ASUS will have Samsung's first OLED displays for laptops
The first laptops with Samsung OLED displays will carry the ASUS branding. "The demand for laptops is experiencing steady growth due to the use of smart working and distance learning," said ASUS general manager YC Chen.
The statement is complemented by Samsung, which said, "90 Hz OLED panels offer more opportunities for consumers to enjoy high-performance content on laptops. With our innovative OLEDs, we are once again pioneering and leading the market in display technologies that deliver superior image quality."
So came Samsung's first official confirmation of the start of mass production of OLED displays for laptops. For which a flourishing market is expected: in recent times OLED displays have been used on laptops with increasing frequency, and although they first arrived on the most powerful and expensive models, the analysts' prediction is that they will quickly conquer the other market segments, even those in which manufacturers try to achieve the best value for money.
The first 90 Hz OLED panels should debut on the 14-inch ASUS ZenBook and 14-inch VivoBook Pro. It's unclear whether this will be a near-term debut, so on ASUS's just-announced laptops, or whether the next generation will have to wait, so a wait of a few months will be needed.
Samsung moves forward with foldable OLED displays for laptops
OlED displays for laptops are also well into Samsung's future planning. The company recently showed at Display Week 2021 that it's keeping its plans for a foldable laptop display warm, but only a few hours ago the cards may have been revealed.
Samsung Display posted a cute YouTube video in which it shows just such an "all-screen" laptop with the large foldable panel occupying both halves of the laptop, including the portion usually reserved for the keyboard. Needless to say, the prototype in the video contains a dual OLED display - there's more to Samsung's future than that.