Apple recently cemented a $240 million deal with Samsung for 3 million LCD panels to be used in Apple’s iPad, according to a recent report in the Korea Times. Coming in at about $80, the LCD screen used in the iPad is the most expensive component of the device, and though it’s less than 3x as big as the iPhone screen, it’s more than 5x as expensive.
The report notes that the Samsung deal comes just a few months after Apple inked a separate $800 million deal with LG for 10 million LCD screens to be used in the iPad, in large part due to the IPS technology LG’s LCD screens offer. Samsung’s LCD screens, in comparison, use vertical alignment technology which offers sharper lighting, but not as large a viewing angle as IPS.
“As far as I know, Samsung has been in the development phase in order to ship more IPS-similar panels to the American company,” a representative at Samsung’s LCD complex in southern Seoul said.
Apple of course has touted the IPS technology of the iPad which will enable the screen to deliver crisp, clear, and consistent color imagery at viewing angles up to 178 degress.
March 26th, 2010 at 10:53 am
How do you arrive at the 3x as big (iPad screen vs iPhone)?
The iPhone is 320×480 pixels
The iPad is 768 x 1024 pixels
That’s 5.12 times more pixels.
If you account for the actual physical size:
The iPad has 9.7″ which is 5.8 x 7.7 ” which is 44.66 square inches
The iPhone is 3.5″ which is 2.1 x 2.8 ” which is 5.88 square inches
That’s 7.6 times a larger area.