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LG to Ship OLED Displays for iPhone X Smartphones in December
November 12, 2018
 
LG Display has started to mass-produce OLED panels for Apple, for the production of iPhone displays, with the first batch of 400,000 panels expected to be delivered in December. The start of OLED panel mass production by LG Display in November for delivery to Apple in December required the purchase of materials in October, according to industry sources ofETNews. Now the parts and materials have been received by LG's E-6 facility in Paju, South Korea, the company has started to progress in creating the ordered panels. Production is expected to ramp from deposition to module assembly, in order to get the panels in Apples possession by mid-December.  Details of the agreement between Apple and LG Display have yet to be disclosed, but industry observers estimate there to be approximately 400,000 panels in the order. At an estimated price of 100,000 won ($89.29) per OLED panel, the total order is expected to be worth around 40 billion won ($35.7 million) to LG. 

It is unclear what is the size of the panels supplied by LG Display. At present, it isn't clear if the panels are a test run of 200,000 screens, or a production order of many more than that, for inclusion in an entire product line. LG is already supplies OLEDs to Apple for the Apple Watch, but Samsung has produced all of the iPhone OLED orders. Reports from July suggested Apple was interested in using LG Display to source OLED and LCD panels for the 2018 iPhones, but was apparently ordering single-digit millions of OLED panels from LG Display, while the bulk stemmed from Samsung.  A report in September seemingly confirmed the rumors LG would be tapped for iPhone XS OLEDpanels —but that turned out to be not the case so far. LG has apparently started mass production of OLED screen panels for Apple's iPhones, after months of testing, deliberation, and failed yield promises. LG was being fast-tracked to become Apple's second OLED display supplier, breaking Samsung's current monopoly over iPhone displays, to no avail until now. While Apple and LG cut the ribbon on the new production line, it was said to only be able to produce 2 million panels by the end of the year. Some of these could potentially be used only for repairs of the new iPhones, too. Considering that the initial aim and the quantity that analysts predicted was twice that number, they cut LG Display's share price forecast because of the yield issues.The E6 line in its Korean factory was reportedly cleared for production in September by Apple, which put it into operation, hoping to get whatever yields LG can muster. Unfortunately, the number of OLED panels with the needed quality that LG's conveyor belts were able to churn out was not very large. LG aims to start small but steady and try to trim Samsung’s chokehold on the small OLED panels industry, while the team from Cupertino is in a desperate need of at least one more OLED screen supplier to avoid the monopolistic prices that Samsung is charging. The Korean analysts claim that Apple's supply contract should bring LG Display the equivalent of $90 a panel, though, which mounts up to Samsung's price, so in the end, Apple may gain nothing but diversification from the OLED contract with LG.