“Apple Inc. will have to wait until at least 2019 to be able to move beyond Samsung Electronics Co. for significant alternative supplies of next-generation, organic light-emitting diode screens for iPhones, according to people familiar with the matter,” Min Jeong Lee and Pavel Alpeyev report for Bloomberg.
“LG Display Co., a long-time supplier of liquid crystal displays for existing iPhone models, is targeting full-fledged shipments of OLED screens in 2019, with only small shipments possible towards the end of next year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private,” Lee and Alpeyev report. “LG is still negotiating the size of upfront payments and details, though talks are in the final stages, said one of the people.”
“LG has been in discussions with Apple to supply OLED technology as quickly as possible, but it’s come across multiple challenges, the people said. Securing evaporation machines, a key tool in churning out the displays, has been difficult, after Samsung’s display arm beat LG to booking several units, or years of orders, from supplier Canon Tokki Corp., one of the person said. Though LG finally managed to secure these machines this year for installation, it has to scramble to get the production yield sufficiently up to meet Apple’s requirements,” Lee and Alpeyev report. “Apple typically introduces new iPhones each fall so it may ship the first OLED phone with LG technology in late 2018 with limited supplies. Alternatively, it could wait to add LG models later in the life cycle of the next model.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Happily, Samsung Display’s little monopoly isn’t long for this world.
SEE ALSO:
LG Display to supply OLED panels to Apple – July 31, 2017
Apple to invest $2.70 billion in LG Display’s OLED production – July 28, 2017
Samsung’s profit may top Apple’s for the first time ever – thanks to Apple – July 27, 2017
Apple has invested at least $1.7 billion in LG Display’s OLED production, sources say – July 26, 2017
Apple and LG Display plan to derail Samsung’s OLED expansion plans – July 25, 2017
Apple supplier LG Display to take on Samsung as it lifts OLED investment – July 25, 2017
Apple is likely to switch to in-house displays – July 24, 2017
Apple sets up OLED panel R&D line in Taiwan to reduce reliance on Samsung Display – July 24, 2017
Apple in talks with LG Display for up to $2.62 billion investment in OLED iPhone display lines – July 3, 2017
Samsung is building the world’s largest OLED plant to supply Apple’s iPhone – June 30, 2017
Samsung to supply OLED displays for Apple’s 5.28-inch iPhone 9 and 6.46-inch iPhone 9 Plus – May 30, 2017
Next-gen iPhone’s OLED display puts blue spotlight on Japanese supplier – April 24, 2017
Apple signs two-year contract with Samsung for up to 92 million OLED iPhone displays – April 7, 2017
Apple orders 70 million OLED panels for next-gen flagship iPhone – April 3, 2017
why do i get the feeling that Samshit did some quick leg work to secure the evaporating machines from Japan, leaving LG in the lurch
It would not surprise me a bit if that were true. And who can blame them when Apple is offering lucrative component contracts?
Apple has done the same thing numerous times, locking up long term supplier contracts for DRAM and other key components to the dismay of competitors. I don’t like Samsung, but I cannot fault them in this instance.
Well, MDN, you may very well be correct. But I won’t be surprised to see some controversy over the relative quality of OLED displays from Samsung and LG, just as there has been with the A series SoCs and the Qualcomm/Intel broadband chips, etc. You keep demanding that Apple diversify its supplier contracts away from Samsung, but complain bitterly when the alternative components are not perfectly equivalent in all respects.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09/lg-v30-hands-on-lgs-oled-displays-still-have-quality-issues/
Shame because their OLED TV panels are excellent. Maybe it’s a preproduction(it was) model thing that will be worked out by release time.