In a regulatory filing obtained by Reuters, LG has confirmed that it did not supply Apple with OLED display panels for the iPhone X over the course of 2017.
In addition, the company said it still has yet to decide whether it will furnish the tech giant with display panels for the iPhone X moving into 2018. Reuters doesn’t share a reason for LG’s indecisiveness.
However, if the Pixel 2 XL’s OLED display is any indication, it’s likely LG Display isn’t yet capable of manufacturing OLED panels that meet Apple’s standards, at the scale the company needs to fulfil iPhone X demand.
That said, it’s clear the companies want to work together.
Leading up to the release of the iPhone X, noted Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo wrote a memo to investors in which he said Apple urgently needed to find a second OLED supplier.
At the time, he esteemed the company was paying between $120 and $130 USD per unit to buy OLED panels from Samsung Display, Samsung’s display manufacturing subsidiary. To put that number in perspective, in that same note Kuo estimated Apple paid about $45 to $55 per unit to acquire LCD panels for the iPhone 7 Plus.
In fact, prior to Kuo’s memo, Apple made a $2.67 billion USD investment offer to LG Display to secure a supply of about 45,000 OLED panels per month from the company going into 2019.
Source: Reuters
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