Apple suppliers have revealed the Cupertino-based company will be launching an OLED iPhone in 2018, according to a latest report from Nikkei.
Following the announcement, South Korea LG Display has started to scale up production capacity. The report noted it will be difficult for Apple to secure panels to meet the demand for 200 million phones that the company ships globally every year, hence the U.S. company will offer OLED iPhones alongside with LCD screens.
Apple has started to consult with display makers and suppliers of manufacturing equipment about OLED technology, and the companies will work over the next year to see whether they can eliminate OLED panels degrading brightness overtime and other drawbacks.
LG Display has added a new large scale OLED panel production line at its main plant in Paju, South Korea. The expansion is projected to cost several hundred billion yen, and requires board approval. The Korean display maker announced earlier it would be investing 1.05 trillion won ($927 million) in a new small scale line at its factory in Gumi.
Other reports named Samsung as the supplier of OLED screens for iPhone 8. Citing a report from The Korea Times, a BGR report pointed out Samsung has approached Apple executives to sell its OLED displays for the usage in next generation iPhones. The Korean company is rumored to be willing to sell the OLED displays at a discounted price.
If Apple decides to shift to OLED displays it would have major implications for Sharp, which is struggling to rebuild its faltering operations, and Japan Display where 30% of the company’s revenue is generated from Apple orders.
