LG has confirmed that it has started producing thinner display panels which are rumored to go into the next-generation Apple smartphone, the iPhone 5.

According to reports, the chief executive of LG Display has confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that the LG unit has started mass production of “in-cell” displays.

“We just began mass production and we don’t expect any disruption in supplies,” Reuters quotes LG Display CEO Han Sang-beom as saying.

Apple is said to be planning a major product launch on September 12. Initial rumors suggested that Apple would launch the iPhone 5 as well as an iPad Mini during this event.

According to iMore’s Rene Ritchie who wrote the report that fueled this initial buzz, if the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini will indeed be launched on September 12 as their trusted sources say, the devices will go on sale on September 21.

After this initial flurry of rumors, other sites supported the September 12 iPhone 5 launch date rumor.

All Things Digital’s John Paczkowski, The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple and The Verge’s Dante D’Orazio all chimed in to say that they have confirmed the iPhone 5 launch date window through independent sources.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 5 is said to feature a bigger display. The buzz started in May when The Wall Street Journal and Reuters said that Apple is planning to use a bigger screen for its next flagship smartphone.

Not long after, 9to5Mac said that the iPhone 5 will indeed have a larger screen. That would be 4 inches diagonally and sporting a resolution of 640x 1,136 pixels making it another Retina Display unit.

This display was reported last month to be thinner thanks to a technology called “in-cell.”  This type f displays are thinner since it uses less layers because a layer used for touch sensitivity is instead integrated into other layers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Han said that they had initially ran into difficulties while developing “in-cell” display panels.

“We had some hard times at first…but it seems those hard times have finally ended,” he said.

The CEO is confident that the panels being produced by LG are cutting-edge. “The in-cell technology is the industry’s latest development,” Han said.

He also addressed the issue of possible shortage of display panels. This has been a common problem with new technology as yield rates tend to be low during the initial parts of production.

“We will be able to supply the panels without any fail,” he said.

Late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs was said to have “worked closely” on the design of the iPhone 5.

Images from ijamesonflickr & erich_strasser on Flickr

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .