Wired
IT Home News on December 14 According to the Korean media THE ELEC report, Samsung Display expects that the supply of OLED panels for the iPhone will increase next year, because Apple is expected to ship the largest number of iPhones using OLED in 2021.
According to sources within Samsung Display, Apple is expected to ship between 160 million and 180 million iPhones using OLED panels next year. This figure combines the expected shipments of iPhone 13 and iPhone 12.
IT Home has learned that Apple has used OLED panels in the entire iPhone 12 lineup and is expected to ship about 100 million units this year. Apple is also expected to use OLED panels in all models of its iPhone 13 series.
According to sources, Samsung Display hopes that about 140 million iPhones launched next year will use its OLED panels. According to Samsung’s estimates, LG Display is expected to provide its OLED panels for approximately 30 million iPhones; BOE is expected to take down the remaining 10 million.
At the same time, LG Display internal sources said that LG Display’s goal is to ship OLED panels for more than 40 million iPhones next year. This will be twice its supply of approximately 20 million tablets this year. In LG’s calculations, Samsung expects to supply about 130 million mobile phones with OLED panels, while BOE will supply about 10 million.
BOE’s goal is to ship 20 million panels to Apple, twice the number predicted by its Korean rival. However, it remains to be seen whether this Chinese display manufacturer can join Apple’s supply chain, as it failed twice in Apple’s review and will reapply as Apple’s panel supplier in the first half of 2021.
According to reports, the OLED panel used in the iPhone 13 next year will be more complicated to manufacture technically than the panel used in the iPhone 12. Of the four models to be launched next year, two (expected to be Pro models) will use low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LPTO) thin film transistors (TFT). LPTO technology is required for the screen to support 120Hz refresh rate, and the four models will also use on-cell touch screens.
It is reported that BOE has already provided on-cell panels for Huawei Mate 40, but lags behind its competitors Samsung Display and LG Display in terms of LPTO TFT technology.