Samsung’s reign as the sole supplier of OLED panels for Apple’s iPhone X models has reportedly come to an end. According to a report from The Korea Herald, Apple has tapped LG as a secondary supplier of OLED panels for the recently unveiled iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Hardly a surprise, there have been a few reports over the past few months indicating that Apple was keen on lessening its reliance on Samsung. Indeed, Apple reportedly wanted to use LG panels for last year’s iPhone X before finding that the company’s panels weren’t up to par with Samsung’s.
With word that LG is now a partner with Apple, it stands to reason that the company’s OLED panels have improved such that they can now pass Apple’s rigorous technical requirements.
The report reads in part:
The sources said LGD’s sixth-generation flexible OLED panels recently passed a series of Apple’s quality tests. In addition, the display company is preparing to begin mass-production of OLED panels at two manufacturing lines of its E6 plant, which have been operational only for a test run until recently.
With displays typically comprising the most expensive part of a smartphone, Apple’s new OLED partnership with LG should help the company keep costs down. Equally as important, having two OLED suppliers means that Apple won’t be stuck in as much of a bind in the event that production issues arise at either Samsung or LG.
Incidentally, a speculative report that surfaced this past July claimed that LG will initially supply Apple with upwards of 5 million OLED panels. In other words, the OLED split between Samsung and LG will certainly not be anywhere close to 50/50 anytime soon as Samsung will continue to do most of the heavy lifting.
