Apple might be trying to remove Samsung from its iPhone and iPad supply line, but a new report from Korea-based inews24 quoted by Digitimes seems to further suggest that the company still needs plenty of components from the South Korean giant, including displays for the future iPad models.
FROM EARLIER: Apple’s giant new ‘iPad Pro’ reportedly won’t launch until Q2 2015
Apparently, Samsung Display is getting ready to supply both 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch panels for upcoming iPad Air and “iPad Pro” models, respectively, and should start shipping displays by the end of the year. Samsung is said to dedicate “most supply from a 5G Plane to Line Switching (PLS) line” to Apple.
Apple is expected to launch the iPad Air 2 at some point in October, with the bigger iPad Pro reportedly launching at some point in the second quarter of 2015. Other details about the 12.9-inch iPad aren’t available at this time, although multiple recent reports seem to confirm that Apple is still interested in launching such a tablet in the future.
Meanwhile, Samsung has been selling its own oversized “Pro” tablets for a few months now, although the company never offered actual sales details for them.
The same report also said that no less than two-thirds of LG Display’s small-size panel shipments are headed to Apple for the iPhone 6 and the upcoming Apple Watch, with the company expected to see operating profits increase sequentially by 292% in the second half of 2014.
