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Tag: screens

  • Apple Signs USD $ 500 Million Deal With LG


    Apple and LG Display have agreed a deal that will see the South Korean electronics manufacturer supply flat panel displays for Macs and handheld products over the next five years.

    In exchange for a guaranteed supply of LCD screens until 2013, Apple will prepay USD $500 million to LG later this month.

    LG, which is the world’s second-largest maker of flat panel displays behind Samsung, presently supplies Apple with 70 per cent of its LCD panels.

    Prices for the parts, which have been falling rapidly during the recent global slowdown, are expected to begin rising again in the near future.

    In 2005, Apple made a similar deal with five memory suppliers which ensured the iPhone maker established a competitive edge in the digital media player and cell phone markets.

    In that agreement Apple prepaid a total of USD $1.25 billion to secure its supply of NAND flash memory.

    This type of strategic deal allows better prices to be obtained for components and can put pressure on competitors’ margins.

  • Smartphones Will Remain Dominant Mobile Video Platform


    Smartphones will continue to be the device most used for watching mobile video, according to research firm In-Stat.

    The high-end handsets will not have it all their own way though.

    Over the next five years, they will be joined by over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones.

    David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst, said the entry of this broad range of new mobile devices able to display video will have a profound effect on the mobile video market

    He said the reach of new device choices will provide more markets for mobile operators, mobile broadcasters, advertisers and other content owners.

    "Even though cellphones and smartphones will remain the predominant method of viewing mobile video, over 160 million other devices that provide mobile video over networks now in exclusive use by cellphones will be sold in the next five years," said Chamberlain.

    Other findings in In-Stat’s report Global Cellular Video Devices: Internet Video Expands the Market include:

    • Shipments of 3G video-capable cellphones will increase at 11.2 per cent annual growth, reaching over 641 million by 2013.
    • The number and types of devices using digital mobile broadcast networks such as ISDB-T, DVB-H, MediaFLO, and DMB-T will expand to nearly 127 million in five years. China’s CMMB will make up over 12 per cent of those devices.
    • More than a half-billion devices capable of viewing Internet video over 3G networks will be sold in 2013. Cumulative sales will approach 2 billion units.