The arrival of 5G is ushering in hardware upgrades to support related applications and services. It is expected more 5G smartphones will come with displays offering high refresh rates that can enhance user experience. It remains to be seen whether Apple will launch its first 5G iPhone in 2020, or will adopt displays with 120Hz refresh rate, but the iPhone 11 series reportedly are selling much better than expected, boosting orders for its VCSEL supply chain.
Smartphone panels to come with higher refresh rates in 2020: Refresh rates of smartphone panels used in the 5G era are likely to be upgraded to 90Hz or even 120Hz from the current 60 Hz as displays with higher refresh rates will enhance greatly user experience, according to industry observers.
VCSEL foundry houses, backend specialists see strong demand: Taiwan's GaAs foundry houses and VCSEL and DOE (diffraction optical element) backend specialists are set to land more follow-up orders from Apple in the fourth quarter of 2019 and beyond, thanks to higher-than-expected sales for the iPhone 11 lineup, according to industry observers.