With reports that Apple iPhone 8 will finally ditch LCD panels in favor of the more advanced OLED panels, Samsung Display has reportedly landed a major deal to become the official supplier of these panels to Apple.
According to reports coming from South Korea, the tech giant has won a deal worth 5 trillion won or approximately $4.3 billion. Apparently, this is an additional deal to what Samsung Display had already secured earlier on, bringing the total amount to a staggering 13 trillion, which is an estimated $11.3 billion.
The initial deal of 8 trillion won had seen Samsung Display tasked with the duties of supplying Apple with up to 100 million OLED panels, most (or all) of which are expected to be used on the upcoming iPhone 8. Recent market reports claimed that the Cupertino Company has plans to go into early production, with an estimated 48 million units of the iPhone 8 expected to be manufactured in time for launch in the second half of 2017. Now that there is a new deal involving an extra 60 million OLED panels, Samsung Display will end up as the largest OLED panel supplier for Apple.
Given that each iPhone series has been selling an estimated 200 million units, pundits are adamant that Samsung Display will be responsible for supplying a whopping 80% of all iPhone 8 OLED panels, with the other 20% probably handled by LG Display.
We have seen previous reports claiming that OLED panels will only be used on the larger iPhone 8 Plus, but given the volume of panels that Samsung Display is set to supply Apple, it is easy to believe that the entire lineup will come with OLED screens. Still, there is also talk of a third variant with a 5-inch OLED display screen, but this is still a rumor and no confirmation has come from Cupertino thus far.