If the picture on the screen of your new iPhone seems sharper, you have not been dazzled by Apple’s slick marketing. Next-generation displays are features of the latest 5G iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones. But they are next in line to fall victim to the effects of the global chip shortage.

Device makers have good reason to shift away from liquid crystal displays. Screens using organic LED (OLED) technology are thinner, boast sharper colours, higher resolution and lower energy needs. They can even be folded. Nearly one in two smartphones and most high-end TVs use these displays.

The improvement is thanks to at least 100m dots, or pixels, in every screen. On LCD screens, a single background light source is used to illuminate the entire screen. On an OLED screen each dot lights up independently, giving pictures more definition.