Samsung probably hates the fact that every Galaxy S or Galaxy Note flagship is compared to their rivals from Apple, with the iPhone almost always being found the better smartphone overall. At the same time, however, Samsung might not even be interested in beating Apple in the high-end smartphone business. That’s because Samsung makes tons of money off of the iPhone, and things are about to get even better for the South Korean company this year, thanks to the exciting new iPhone 8.
The iPhone 8 will be Apple’s first smartphone to ship with an OLED display, and Samsung is in the unique position of being the only company that can meet Apple’s demand. Things will change in the coming years as LG Display and other screen makers compete against Samsung’s display unit for Apple’s cash, but Samsung Display currently dominates the OLED business, with 95% of the market.
This year, Samsung will reportedly provide some 160 million OLED screens for the iPhone 8. According to The Investor, Samsung Display won a brand new deal with Apple, and the contract is said to be worth 5 trillion won, or around $4.3 billion.
Apple is expected to launch three new iPhones this year, including the iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, and iPhone 7s Plus. But only the iPhone 8 will actually have an OLED screen. Assuming Apple continues to sell well over 200 million iPhones per year, and assuming it manages to put all of Samsung’s OLED screens to good use, then the iPhone 8 might account for close to 70% – 80% in the 12-month period following its debut.
The Investor says that Samsung uses OLED screens for almost 70% of its smartphones, including models that aren’t high-end devices like the Galaxy S or Galaxy Note series. Samsung Display will also provide some 60 million OLED screens for the Galaxy S8 series, the report notes.
