14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of OLED displays, and the company uses such screens on all of its smartphones. Now, the South Korean giant intends to boost its OLED screen production ahead of the iPhone release next year.
Rumors say that Apple contracted Samsung to supply OLED displays for the iPhone scheduled to debut next year. So it comes as no surprise that, because of this, Samsung is planning to spend $6.8 billion to boost production capacity of OLED screen.
The report comes from Nikkei and shows that the South Korean company will spend a considerable amount of capital in order to increase production capacity by over 50%.
It is said that the company already ships 300 million panels each year, but then Samsung is expected to supply up to 100 million 5.5-inch OLED displays to Apple starting 2017. In case you haven't heard it, the South Korean company might also provide OLED displays for this year’s iPhone 7.
LG Display and JDI will also supply OLED displays to Apple
However, Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer to provide Apple with OLED screens, as LG Display and JDI will also supply the panels for the iPhone arriving next year. But the two companies will be offering less than Samsung’s share of 100 million.
LG Display too plans to invest more into expanding production of OLED television and other panels over the next several years. Moreover, it is interested in entering the market of smartphone displays.
With this order, Samsung will surely grow its already-successful components business - the South Korean company accounted for 95% of all OLED shipments in Q1 2016.
Samsung is believed to focus on protecting its Galaxy smartphone line from strong competition coming from Apple and its iPhone series. OLED displays offer multiple advantages over other types of screens, considering that they don’t necessarily contain glass and can easily be placed on curved surfaces, which gives manufacturers more freedom when it comes to design.