Rumors have been doing the rounds regarding the idea of Apple dropping support for LCD in favor of OLED modules by 2018.
There is further news that even makes this rumor sweeter, suggesting that the iPhone maker will turn to its closest rivals in the tech industry, Samsung and LG Display, for the supply of these display panels for its future smartphones.
With the source citing an unnamed insider, it seems Apple is very close to agreeing to a deal with these two Asian tech giants – a deal that will see the display arms of the two companies supply Apple with OLED panels, an area both companies have immense experience in. At the moment, LG has already taken up the deal for supplying Apple with OLED products with respect to the Apple Watch. In addition, rumors say that LG will take charge of supplying the entire units for the upcoming Apple Watch.
This is not something small for either Samsung or LG and as a result, the two will be injecting a tune of up to $12.8 billion in form of capital expenditures within the next two or three years in a bid to construct facilities that can supply Apple with what they need, without creating any shortages for the on-demand iPhones. The report further suggests that Apple will be helping out with some of the equipment costs involved in the process, but this cannot be confirmed.
LG to make a huge gamble to meet Apple’s OLED needs
Apparently, LG is planning to repurpose the current LCD lines of production in a bid to cut down on the costs incurred in general and instead move to 6G systems, up from the current 4.5G systems. One huge risk that stands in the way of the South Korean company is the effect this will have on production yields given that it is technology that has yet to be tested.
Samsung is reportedly part of the team supplying Apple with OLED screens for the Watch; however, it seems it will take a lower cut of this deal when compared to LG.
The new report about Samsung and LG supplying Apple with OLED screens in future is in line with the previous rumor that suggested Cupertino will be dropping support for LCD screens in favor of OLED panels in 2018. This speculation has been growing even further thanks to the fact that the Samsung, the company’s closest rival in the smartphone industry, has already implemented the OLED technology on its latest devices.
Apple took a careful approach to this technology, just as it has always done and it seems it has finally decided to enter the race, but not until 2018. What this means is that chances of seeing these OLED panels on the upcoming iPhone 7 or even 2017’s iPhone 7S might be very slim, but the latter might again be possible given the timeframe.
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