Samsung could debut blue PHOLED in late 2025, report says

Samsung is trying to use blue phosphorescent OLED display technology in devices by the second half of 2025, according to a report from UBI Research via The Elec. That could line up with the release of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7, but it’s unclear whether the company plans to debut the technology in foldable products. Since Samsung typically releases its traditional flagship phones in January or February, the reported timeline doesn’t line up with the potential Galaxy S24 or S25 series. Completely utilizing phosphorescent OLED technology, abbreviated PHOLED, would result in displays with lower power consumption.

UBI Research also found, after contacting companies developing blue phosphorescent materials, that PHOLED technology likely isn’t ready to go mainstream. It suspects that by using blue phosphorescent in an upcoming display, Samsung is trying to become the first to debut this technology. If this report is to be believed, it might not make sense for Samsung to release this technology with the Z Fold 7 and Z Fold 7 after all.

This is especially possible due to the fact that the biggest issue with blue PHOLED technology is durability. Blue PHOLED displays have a lifespan of 55%, per the report, compared to current displays. Samsung’s flagship AMOLED displays currently use some PHOLED materials. PHOLED is used for the red and green pixels, but the blue ones still feature older fluorescent materials. Samsung’s internal goal is to make blue, red, and green pixels all with PHOLED materials by the second half of 2025. But due to the reported lower lifespan, it’s unclear in what capacity PHOLED could appear.

Why Samsung is trying to make blue PHOLED pixels

With those durability concerns in mind, it’s easy to wonder why Samsung is aiming for blue PHOLED pixels at all. The answer is that it all comes down to power consumption. The red and green PHOLED pixels in Samsung’s current AMOLED displays have a light-emitting efficiency of 100%, which is excellent. However, the blue fluorescent pixels in those same displays feature a light-emitting efficiency of 25%. In this situation, higher is better, because a higher percentage means more light that is emitted by the pixels are viewable.

Essentially, using blue PHOLED technology means a display could provide better brightness while consuming less power. That’s because less light emittance is lost through using phosphorescent materials instead of fluorescent ones. For users, the benefit is simple: using a display with blue PHOLED pixels could result in better battery life. Samsung has been working on this technology for some time, and this latest update suggests we might be getting closer a public launch.