LG and Samsung Will Both Supply OLED Screens for 2018 iPhones

January 3, 2018

LG Display will join Samsung in supplying OLED screens for the upcoming 2018 iPhones. The move, which was first noted by The Korea Herald, seems to confirm an earlier report saying Apple planned on introducing two OLED-based handsets this year.

Back in November, KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was prepping three new iPhones for this year. Besides a second-generation 5.8 iPhone X, the analyst reported Apple would introduce an all-new OLED 6.5-inch “iPhone X Plus,” alongside a 6.1-inch model that will still use LCD.

The Korea Herald report says Samsung will supply OLED screens for the 2018 iPhone X. LG, meanwhile, will be the sole OLED supplier for the 6.5-inch handset.

They explain:

Apple plans to diversify OLED models this year. Sources said LG Display is likely to produce larger 6.5-inch screens, while Samsung Display will focus more on producing smaller 5.8- or 6-inch screens.

The first shipments will not be large, totaling about 15-16 million screens for the year. Samsung Display, the sole OLED supplier for the current iPhone X, produces more than 10 million screens per month.

In July, The Korea Herald said Apple planned on paying LG $2.7 billion for a new OLED production facility. This latest report suggests that was money well spent.

Apple’s likely to announce its 2018 iPhones in September.