14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is expected to put production at a new OLED manufacturing facility on hold for up to six months, as Apple has substantially reduced orders for the iPhone X and the firm is now looking for other buyers.
Samsung makes the acclaimed iPhone X display, and the company invested no less than $3.8 billion in OLED manufacturing before the launch of Apple’s anniversary model in an attempt to meet the estimated demand.
But while production capacity has been substantially increased in South Korea, bringing the monthly output to 60,000 OLED panels per month, Samsung is now projected to put operations on hold because there’s no one to buy these displays.
Apple has reduced iPhone X display orders by nearly 50 percent due to slow sales. The company originally expected sales of the device to reach 100 million units, while the target was dropped to 90 million in January and to 75 million units in February. More recently, Apple ordered 55 million iPhone X displays, as it expects sales to drop in the coming months.
Two OLED iPhones coming this year
A report from The Korea Herald indicates that Samsung also has a hard time finding buyers for OLED panels in China, as the company mistakenly projected phone manufacturers here would abandon LCD after Apple itself makes the transition to OLED with the iPhone X.
Apple, however, is expected to launch two different OLED iPhone models this year, namely a successor to the iPhone X, as well as a Plus-sized version that would come with a 6.5-inch display. A third model could also join the lineup, but this time Apple is seeking an LCD panel that would help keep the price as low as possible in an attempt to offer a more affordable iPhone configuration.
The new models could see daylight in September, as per Apple’s typical release schedule, as the company is reportedly getting ready to start trial production in an attempt to prevent any manufacturing struggles.