Samsung will manufacture OLED displays for Apple

Jan 15, 2016 10:44 GMT  ·  By

Apple is believed to be planning the switch from LCD screens to OLED sometime in the future, but while the company hasn’t yet revealed any specifics on this change, sources with knowledge of the matter have said the new technology could be adopted in 2018 or 2019.

Now a new report claims that when Apple brings an OLED screen on the iPhone, it will be manufactured by Samsung Display, as the company has recently approved a plan to invest $7.4 billion in its production facilities in order to cope with the high demand expected for this model.

Details are once again missing, but Digitimes writes, citing Korea-based newspaper ET News, that Samsung wants to boost display production gradually, so an increase of up to 45,000 units is expected to happen in 2016, followed by another boost in 2017.

iPhone 8 to come with OLED screen

In 2018, when Apple is set to switch to OLED screens, Samsung is expected to already have the production capacity to cope with the demand the Cupertino-based firm estimates for the iPhone.

What’s interesting, however, is that the aforementioned report mentions “curved OLED displays,” so Apple isn’t going for a regular OLED screen, but for a curved one that would allow the use of new technologies, which the company is most likely already working on.

Rumor has it that the iPhone 8 will be the first model to adopt OLED screens, so both the iPhone 7 and the rumored iPhone 7s will come with the same LCD technology that’s found on the current versions.

At the same time, Apple might be negotiating with other manufacturers too, including LG, for the production of OLED displays, but no agreement is believed to have been reached yet.

Information is very vague right now, especially given Apple’s CIA-like secrecy, but expect more details to emerge soon as negotiations with manufacturers advance.