Samsung and LG may use sapphire glass displays

Rumors about Apple using sapphire displays for their next iPhone line have been surfacing all over the internet, so there won’t be any surprise if the iPhone 6 will feature one. Now it seems the other two tech giants, Samsung and LG, are thinking to do the same for their future smartphones.

According to a report, both companies have already contacted sapphire glass manufacturers and suppliers and explored production possibilities. Samsung has announced last year that they might use sapphire glass for their future smartphones, but the plan remained on paper due to the high costs this type of display required. Since then, Apple has already used the sapphire glass for its iPhone 5S, as coating for the fingerprint sensor and for the camera. The latest rumor suggested that Apple’s iPhone 6 will feature the sapphire glass coating on the whole display, but due to the high costs, which prevented Samsung from using the sapphire glass, Apple will make only 10 million devices.

The cost of making an iPhone 6 with sapphire glass display is about $280, while making an iPhone 5S costs only $191. Considering the costs of making such a smartphone are higher, the retail price of the device will reach $1,285. So not only making a smartphone with sapphire glass display costs more, but selling a device that costs over $1000 is a great challenge. No wonder Samsung walked away from this investment considering the high risks of selling just a few devices in the end.

Sapphire glass is said to be the latest fashion in the smartphone making industry. Not only is this type of glass more resistant to scratches, but it’s thinner and lighter than the usual glass.  The sapphire glass is currently used only in high-end devices such as Vertu Ti. The fact that Apple is already working with GT Advanced Technologies in order to make such high-end devices isn’t a surprise considering we’re talking about Jobs’ legacy. The rumors about Samsung and LG following the footsteps of their rival started earlier this year, when both companies reached to sapphire glass manufacturers and requested product samples. Nothing about this particular subject was known until recently, when both Samsung and LG became more interested about the sapphire glass displays. The rumor about the iPhone 6 featuring such a display definitely triggered the reaction of both companies.

Whether Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 will feature a sapphire glass display is not known, so if the tech giant moves fast enough their next flagship might come with this feature. Still, the chances of this happening are rather small, because Samsung would have to redesign their smartphone, not that is entirely impossible, but there’s not enough time for that. Perhaps LG will be the next to make a sapphire glass smartphone, now that the G3 is finished and ready to take over the market.