Samsung, Apple trade jabs over displays

Apple and Samsung Electronics are engaged in a war of words over displays used in their newest smartphones, with the two sides claiming superiority. 

Apple CEO Steve Jobs challenged display king Samsung on Monday, touting the “Retina display” used in Apple’s latest iPhone, and supposedly made by Samsung’s archrival LG Display, at its developers’ conference. Jobs said the Retina display is much better than the AM-OLED display, which is used in Samsung’s newly-launched Galaxy S smartphone, citing its higher resolution. 

Samsung, the world’s No. 1 display maker, hit back at Apple on Tuesday, saying the much-hyped Retina display consumes around 30 percent more battery power than the “super AM-OLED” display first used in Galaxy S. 

A spokesperson for Samsung Mobile Display said that the Retina display offers higher resolution than super AM OLED, but insisted the difference is small. Samsung Mobile Display is a mobile display joint venture between Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI, and the world’s dominant maker of AM-OLED displays.

“The visibility difference is only 3 to 5 percent. But raising resolution to that level increases battery consumption by 30 percent,” he told The Korea Herald. 

Samsung’s Galaxy S                                           Apple’s iPhone 4

The iPhone 4G has a resolution of 960×640, four times higher than its predecessor iPhone 3GS, while the Galaxy S’s resolution is 800×480. Samsung launched Galaxy S in Seoul on Tuesday, eight hours after Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone at its developers’ conference in San Francisco.