LG Display hints at deal to begin making OLED panels for Apple's iPhone X
LG Display may be on the verge of providing display panels for the iPhone X, entering Apple's OLED supply chain earlier than expected and reducing dependence on Samsung.
"Regarding the OLED supply deal for Apple's iPhone X, nothing has been set in detail," the company wrote in a regulatory filing seen by The Korea Herald. "When anything is confirmed in detail, we will announce it, or [otherwise an announcement will be made] in a month."
The Korea Exchange asked LG to provide clarification following a local media story claiming it had already signed a deal with Apple, and was installing production equipment at its Paju E6 assembly line. It was even said that manufacturing would start in June, fulfilling an order for 60 million panels.
As recently as September, reports suggested that LG would probably be unable to make Apple OLED panels in any substantial quantity until 2019. The company may have been given a $2.7 billion boost from Apple in July, though, and in November it announced plans to spend $13.7 billion on OLED for TVs and mobile devices through 2020 -- with most of the money going to smartphones.
At the moment Samsung is the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone X, being the only firm with enough production capacity to meet Apple demands. The company has been using OLED panels on its phones for years, including curved ones on devices like the Galaxy S8.
Apple is rumored to be preparing two OLED iPhones for 2018: a 5.8-inch model like the iPhone X, and a massive 6.2- to 6.5-inch design that would go toe-to-toe with Samsung's biggest phones. It may also be working on a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, which could have a metal back.
"Regarding the OLED supply deal for Apple's iPhone X, nothing has been set in detail," the company wrote in a regulatory filing seen by The Korea Herald. "When anything is confirmed in detail, we will announce it, or [otherwise an announcement will be made] in a month."
The Korea Exchange asked LG to provide clarification following a local media story claiming it had already signed a deal with Apple, and was installing production equipment at its Paju E6 assembly line. It was even said that manufacturing would start in June, fulfilling an order for 60 million panels.
As recently as September, reports suggested that LG would probably be unable to make Apple OLED panels in any substantial quantity until 2019. The company may have been given a $2.7 billion boost from Apple in July, though, and in November it announced plans to spend $13.7 billion on OLED for TVs and mobile devices through 2020 -- with most of the money going to smartphones.
At the moment Samsung is the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone X, being the only firm with enough production capacity to meet Apple demands. The company has been using OLED panels on its phones for years, including curved ones on devices like the Galaxy S8.
Apple is rumored to be preparing two OLED iPhones for 2018: a 5.8-inch model like the iPhone X, and a massive 6.2- to 6.5-inch design that would go toe-to-toe with Samsung's biggest phones. It may also be working on a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, which could have a metal back.
Comments
And it has a shit OLED screen.
Yup, it is the same as previous V30, but with higher storage and better aesthetics and available only within South Korea. LG made only 300 of them, so they don't need to fool more than 300 people in South Korea.
I don't think it is a pre-production iPhone OLED. There is no way Apple would settle for such a mediocre display. Even OnePlus did not settle for it, only Google settled for it for Pixel 2 XL since LG themselves were the manufacturers.
from what I see of LG’s screens, they have not.
LG has a lot of ground to cover to catch Samsung.
Anyone notice that Samsung has passed Intel to become the largest semiconductor manufacturer on the globe? And that Samsung recently announced huge levels of investment into advancing their technologies further?
LG has little chance of catching Samsung. Apple needed to have approached LG 3 to 4 years ago. It’s now too late. LG will own the large panel OLED television market while Samsung will dominate the AMOLED market for small screen devices. The Chinese and Japanese have no chance of even catching LG, much less Samsung at this time. Even Sony has had to capitulate and is buying OLED panels for its Bravia line from LG.
Apple is invested into microLED and it could prove to be a disruptive technology. However, by the time Apple is able to bring it to mass production, Samsung’s OLED advancements might render the development moot.
Apple is going to be dependent on Samsung for advanced display panels for a very long time. LG is at a point where Samsung was in small panel OLED technology 5 years ago. That’s a lot of ground to make up.