Back in July 207, there were reports that Apple is on the verge of investing around $2.7 billion in LG to get OLED panels for future iPhones. However, we now hear that the Korean firm is almost ready to become Apple’s second supplier for OLED screens. This will also allow Apple to reduce its dependence on Samsung who is currently the sole manufacturer of the panels in iPhone X models.
This falls in line with the previous rumor that suggested LG will be the supplier for this year’s 6.5-inch “iPhone X Plus”. Today’s report claim that LG Display will initially supply between 2 million and 4 million units, as it continues to work on ramping up capacity. While the count of panels in small compared to the Apple iPhone sales, Apple would gain leverage in price negotiations with Samsung.
Back in April, a report from The Wall Street Journal stated that the mass production challenges caused LG to fall behind the schedule it had agreed with Apple and this made the company rethink on whether LG Display would be in a position to complement Samsung as a second source of OLED displays for the upcoming iPhones. Then again analysts at investment firm Susquehanna estimated that LG would be able to supply as much as 20% of OLED displays for the 2018 lineup.
It is already known fact that Apple is expected to release three new iPhone models in 2018: a second generation iPhone X and a low-cost, 6.1-inch option with a similar full-face display as seen on the iPhone X, but with LCD rather than an OLED display, and an iPhone X Plus. In May, according to a report from South Korea’s ET News, Apple is said to make a complete transition to OLED in 2019.