The iPhone's success has transformed the fortunes of dozens of suppliers, from glass manufacturers to the maker of robots that cut metal cases. Now, as Apple prepares to introduce a new smartphone with an OLED screen, a Japanese refiner is about to join that list.

Idemitsu Kosan Co. is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company began experimenting with organic light-emitting diodes in the mid-1980s, seeking to reduce its reliance on petroleum after the global oil shock.

Now, pick up Google's latest Pixel smartphone or a Galaxy model from Samsung Electronics Co., and chances are the blue pixels on the OLED screens are built with Idemitsu's materials or patents.

Wider adoption of the advanced displays, which offer crisper images and use less battery power, is putting the spotlight on Japanese suppliers that up until now had virtually no stake in iPhone sales. Canon Tokki Corp., for example, has a near monopoly on the giant vacuum machines capable of making OLED screens. Dai Nippon Printing Co. and Toppan Printing Co. are leading manufacturers of fine metal meshes needed to imprint OLED pixels.

Alberto Moel, a technology analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co told Bloomberg that "Samsung has been using OLED screens for a few years, but with Apple it becomes a big push. It makes everyone else want to do the same thing.'

Apple plans to ship at least one new iPhone with an OLED screen this year, the 10th anniversary of the product's debut, people with knowledge of the matter have said. The Cupertino, California-based company's use of OLED displays will boost demand by hundreds of millions of units, according to industry estimates. IHS Markit forecasts they will overtake liquid-crystal displays for smartphone panels this year in a market expected to reach $22.7 billion in 2017.

Idemitsu's unlikely role in OLED technology stems from its early research in blue diodes, which don't last as long but are critical for offering a full range of colors on displays. Blue light has a higher frequency than red and green, packing enough energy to cut chemical bonds.

The Bloomberg report provides both background information on Idemitsu and the OLED displays industry's evolution. The connection to Apple appears to be indirect as there's no direct deal with Apple that is presented in the report on patents or anything else. Nontheless it's an interesting part of the industry to be aware of and you could check out the report here. An added benefit is knowing that Samsung uses blue pixel technology that they didn't invent.

Apple's initial intellectual property on OLED began back in 2009 and the U.S. Patent Office granted Apple their first patent regarding OLED back in 2013. In that same year Apple hired a high powered leader in AMOLED from LG Display, Dr. Lee Jeung-jil. So Apple's work on OLED display have been long in the making.

Some of Apple's more recent OLED patents could be found here and here. Apple's patents on flexible displays and display technology in general could be found here and here.

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