Apple Testing 65-Inch iTV Panels With Korean Supplier [Rumor]

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The next version of Apple TV may allow you to take your viewing with you wherever you go. Photo: Apple
The next version of Apple TV may allow you to take your viewing with you wherever you go. Photo: Apple

Are we finally getting closer to the existence of the Apple TV set Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson he had “finally cracked?”

According to a new rumor/report from the South Korea-based Korea Herald, an “unnamed” South Korean display manufacture is currently making 65-inch organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel samples for Apple’s proposed “iTV,” which the company expects to “be mass-produced next year.”

The shift from LCD panels to OLED, and the shortage of OLED content supply, is reportedly the reason for Apple’s television set delay.

Although the yield rate of OLED panels is still not high for mass production, however, they are considered to be the best panels for TVs because of their high definition and potential of curvedness.

Becoming a television manufacturer would put Apple into competition with Samsung in yet another area, since Samsung is currently one of the leading companies in OLED television production. As of 2006, Samsung reportedly held more than 600 U.S. patents and more than 2800 international patents in the area — making it the largest owner of AMOLED (Active-matrix organic light emitting diode technology patents.

The Korea Herald cites Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Seoul-based IBK Securities, as the provider of the information. Seung-woo does make one qualifier, however. “[I]t is not certain whether Apple will use it for the mass production of its long-rumored iTV as it is still running tests,” he says.

Which is a nice way of saying that this may never happen, without outright saying it.

Source: Korea Herald

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