Apple was last to the foldable game but has already become the leader

The iPhone Ultra is expected next week, and Apple has spent a lot of time refining the folding display. It will be the last major brand to launch a foldable smartphone, but it has quickly become a leader in the space. According to the latest information, several brands are going to use the iPhone Ultra’s folding display tech for their next-generation foldables.

The Elec cites industry sources claiming Samsung Display is working on dual-UTG (Ultra-thin Glass) OLED prototypes for Google, Oppo, and Vivo. For context, the iPhone Ultra is said to be using a dual-UTG panel that sandwiches the display between two layers of UTG. This is meant to spread the mechanical stress and reduce the crease from becoming more evident over time.

This type of panel is assembled by Samsung Display using its OLED middle layer, but the two UTG layers are provided by Dowoo Insys. This means a lot more business is incoming for Samsung and its partners.

It is believed that Apple has been able to decrease the crease visibility significantly compared to current-generation foldables, barring the Oppo Find N6, which will likely remain the champion in this category. That said, Apple was the last major brand to enter the foldable market but has quickly become the leader, with major brands like Google, Oppo, and Vivo following suit.

Google recently released its latest foldable, which comes with only minor improvements over its predecessor. Vivo launched its X Fold 6 in July, and despite the improvements over its predecessor, the crease is still quite visible and palpable. Oppo has already achieved a near-creaseless display, so it would be very interesting to see how dual-UTG improves the feel further.