Samsung is the only supplier of OLED screens for the iPhone X, and the South Korean giant is expected to ship up to 200 million units this year alone. Apple, meanwhile, wants to launch three iPhone X successors in 2018, reports said, two of which featuring OLED screens. The iPhone maker is also interested in diversifying its OLED screen supply chain to reduce its reliance on Samsung. Deals with other OLED display makers should help Apple secure better deals, and make iPhone X successors more affordable.
LG Display is one of the companies interested in Apple’s business, and a new report says that LG will provide 6.5-inch screens for the bigger iPhone X model supposed to launch this year.
LG said recently that it has not decided on a deal with Apple. But the Apple contract is a very lucrative one, and it’s likely that LG Display is very interested in obtaining iPhone X contracts.
According to The Investor, LG Display will start the first OLED shipment for iPhone in the second half of the year. LG is expected to ship 15-16 million units in 2018. Comparatively, Samsung can make more than 10 million screens each month.
Sources said that Samsung will focus on the 5.8-inch or 6-inch iPhone X displays, while LG will make the bigger 6.5-inch units. Production will start in the second quarter of 2018, at LG’s E6 plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The facility has two OLED lines and a monthly capacity of 6 million units. However, yields are still low, which means production is expected to improve next year.
LG already makes the OLED screens inside the LG V30 and the Google Pixel 2 XL. The latter has been riddled by display issues soon after Google launched it. From the looks of it, the quality of LG’s screen may be to blame. The Samsung panels in the smaller Pixel 2 did not present similar issues.
