Samsung is the only supplier of OLED screens for the iPhone X right now, but things are about to change dramatically for the South Korean firm. Bloomberg reports that LG has finally stepped up as Apple’s second supplier for OLED panels.
You might recall that Apple had reportedly invested billions into LG Display to help get its OLED division up and running. The latter has been struggling to meet the former’s demands, but it looks like it had a breakthrough.
A source says that LG will deliver between 2 to 4 million OLED units this year. This is actually quite less when you consider how many iPhones Apple sells, but it’s a start nonetheless. This first batch is apparently going to be used for one of the new iPhone models coming this year.
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Apple is said to be preparing 3 iPhones in total for 2018, but only 2 will have OLED screens – the iPhone X (2018) and iPhone X Plus. LG supposedly wants to manufacture all the displays for its chosen model, but it’s not certain whether the firm will be able to manage that.
Cheaper OLED iPhone X
Now that LG is in the picture, Apple has a higher chance of negotiating the price of the OLED screens with Samsung. The panel was a major reason why the iPhone X was so expensive. It’s in a much better position to haggle over the cost now that it has some leverage.
Bloomberg had previously reported that Apple was also in discussions with China’s BOE Technology Group for OLED screens. This could help it gain even more leverage. Plus, more suppliers means less risk since if one chain fails the other can pick up the slack.
This influx of suppliers doesn’t mean that all iPhones next year will be OLED models though. Apple is reportedly keen on continuing its LCD variant as an affordable option even in 2019. Let’s just hope that the OLED iPhones get cheaper when September arrives.