One of the many iPhone 8 concepts, this one from Concept iPhone
BusinessKorea reports that Samsung and LG are engaged in a ‘do or die’ fight to win orders from Apple for OLED displays for future iPhones. The companies are said to be investing a combined record sum of around $11.6B this year alone in the type of flexible displays likely to be used in next year’s iPhones.
Analysts say that Samsung currently accounts for around 95% of small-to-medium OLED displays, which covers the range from smartphones to laptops but excludes monitors and TVs. LG is said to be working hard to compete, however, with the world’s largest OLED panel factory under construction.
Samsung and LG are not the only two companies hoping to win OLED display business from Apple, with both Foxconn-owned Sharp and Applied Materials also in the running. That should give Apple plenty of room to play off suppliers against each other to obtain keen pricing.
It’s currently unclear whether Apple will switch to OLED displays for all next year’s iPhones, or only some. Some reports have claimed that OLED will be limited to the iPhone Plus, with the smaller model getting them only in 2018.
It would be hard to envision Apple replying solely on Samsung for its flagship product’s screens however.
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