Samsung is already gearing up for the forthcoming years, as it is working to enter the VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) markets with a “Vision Pro” style display in 2027 or 2028.
Beyond question, Samsung and Apple are tough competitors of each other. Now, to stand strong, Samsung is developing microOLED display technology equivalent to Apple’s Vision Pro.
Basically, AR and VR are technologies that combine the real world with a virtual one. Whereas Apple’s Vision Pro is based on a VR headset that integrates digital content with physical space, for instance, eyes, hands, and voice. This is a powerful, high-end gadget with cutting-edge microOLED display technology.
Apple claims that Vision Pro offers you the parallel of a single 4K TV per eye, backed by a recent iFixit teardown of the gadget, which takes care that every pixel on each tiny display is the size of a single red blood cell. The reason why Apple charges $3,499 USD for the Vision Pro is because it obtains the two microOLED 4K display panels from Sony for around $456 as per the reports of ‘Bill of Materials.’ Sony is the only supplier of microOLED panels to Apple; that will probably be the case for a while since Samsung is predicting that at least until 2027 or 2028, the technology will become commercially viable.
At a recent Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) event, Choi Joo-sun, CEO of Samsung Display, stated that “the market potential of micro OLEDs installed in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is considerable, but I think the market will start in earnest around 2027 to 2028.”
Samsung offers OLED panels for the iPhone division of Apple, and the Vision Pro will be acquiring its display technology from other traders until the Korean giants get ready to enter the microOLED market. If the reports are to be believed, then Apple will search for a substitute display for the current or future Vision Pro models from Chinese brands such as SeeYa and BOE.
As one of the biggest traders in display technology, it’s only a matter of time before Samsung begins to offer its own microOLED display technology for buyers such as Apple and possibly power its own take on a combined-reality headset. However, Samsung is in no rush to bring it to market, so we have to wait at least three to four years for this technology.
