Apple adds LG as second OLED supplier as iPhone XS rolls off assembly lines

Apple has indeed selected LG Display as its second supplier of OLED panels for iPhone displays, following a successful series of quality tests, a report said on Friday.

LG is preparing mass production via two of the lines at its E6 factory, which only recently emerged from testing itself, according to sources for the Korea Herald. The publication didn't say when the first deliveries might take place.

Until now Samsung has been Apple's exclusive OLED supplier for iPhones, since no other company has had the capacity to support the demand. Samsung has been using OLED in its own phones for years, most notably in the Galaxy S and Note lines.

Multiple reports have indicated that Apple was planning to tap LG, which also makes OLED screens for the Apple Watch. Apple has stringent quality demands for suppliers however, and LG has moreover had to build up its capacity to become a realistic option for iPhones.

Samsung is likely to remain a primary supplier for some time. A report from July claimed LG's initial order would be 3 to 4 million panels, which if true would support just a fraction of the new iPhones Apple is expected to ship by the end of the year.

Nevertheless LG could help alleviate constraints on the supply chain and keep the prices of iPhones in check. The 5.8-inch OLED panel on the iPhone X was believed to cost Apple about $110, making it the device's most expensive component and contributing to a $999 price tag. The iPhone XS, now in preorder, costs the same with a similarly-sized display, and to this the company has added the 6.5-inch XS Max, which starts at $1,099. Despite using a 6.1-inch screen, the LCD-based iPhone XR is $749.

9 Comments

davgreg 1046 comments · 9 Years

About 6 years ago

Too bad end users will have no way of knowing which supplier made the display since more than a few consider Samsung a thief of IP. As to the price, OLED is not worth the extra $

I’m holding on to my iPhone 7 until Apple has a 5G ready phone, which the iPhone Excess (X S) has not been reported to be.

MplsP 4020 comments · 8 Years

davgreg said:

Too bad end users will have no way of knowing which supplier made the display since more than a few consider Samsung a thief of IP. As to the price, OLED is not worth the extra $

I’m holding on to my iPhone 7 until Apple has a 5G ready phone, which the iPhone Excess (X S) has not been reported to be.

I'm guessing the LG screens will be used on certain models so there may be a way to take an educated guess.

Historically, Apple has not been the first to put the latest cellular modems in their phones, instead waiting for more robust and energy efficient revisions. As a practical matter, half the time I don't have a great LTE signal, and when I have 4 bars of LTE it's more than fast enough for me, so 5G far down the list of concerns for me.

As far as Samsung goes, I don't disagree with your assessment, but the bottom line is that they are one of the best manufacturers in the world for screens. With all the acrimony between them, dont' you think Apple would rather go some place else? The fact that they use Samsung as a supplier despite a bitter, decade-long lawsuit is telling.

melgross 33607 comments · 20 Years

davgreg said:

Too bad end users will have no way of knowing which supplier made the display since more than a few consider Samsung a thief of IP. As to the price, OLED is not worth the extra $

I’m holding on to my iPhone 7 until Apple has a 5G ready phone, which the iPhone Excess (X S) has not been reported to be.

My main concern here is that while Samsung’s screens have very high quality, so far, LG’s phone screens have been just horrible. Truly horrible. While I don’t buy any Samsung products anymore, due to Samsung’s overall lawlessness, Apple is in a different position. In order to stay in business, they need to buy the components they need, no matter where they come from.

so if LG has gotten their quality to the point where they rival that of Samsung, then fine. But right now, I’m still concerned that they may not.

k2kw 2079 comments · 11 Years

MplsP said:

davgreg said:

Too bad end users will have no way of knowing which supplier made the display since more than a few consider Samsung a thief of IP. As to the price, OLED is not worth the extra $

I’m holding on to my iPhone 7 until Apple has a 5G ready phone, which the iPhone Excess (X S) has not been reported to be.

I'm guessing the LG screens will be used on certain models so there may be a way to take an educated guess.

I'm doubting this entire post. Is there any secondary confirmation of this? This could just be a fake LG leak so they don't look like they are missing out on all the business again.

Historically, Apple has not been the first to put the latest cellular modems in their phones, instead waiting for more robust and energy efficient revisions. As a practical matter, half the time I don't have a great LTE signal, and when I have 4 bars of LTE it's more than fast enough for me, so 5G far down the list of concerns for me.

I think I can live without 5G for a while longer. I'm more interested in who is supplying the modems? I thought there was a story that it wasn't INTEL and the Qualcomm CEO said not them. I'm not happy with the Intel modem in my ATT iphone 8Plus. Did Apple develop their own hardware since they knew they were doing the dual SIM? I have a iPhone 7plus and iphone 8 plus. I'm definitely interested in the Apple Xs but want to know more about the modem.

As far as Samsung goes, I don't disagree with your assessment, but the bottom line is that they are one of the best manufacturers in the world for screens. With all the acrimony between them, dont' you think Apple would rather go some place else? The fact that they use Samsung as a supplier despite a bitter, decade-long lawsuit is telling.

There were many Android apologists last year who said the LG screens on the Pixel2XL were fine in their reviews but still complain about them a year later. They say its for the Camera that does machine learning on the pictures (often great but sometime bad). Seems like Samsung can do good hardware but bad software and Google can do good software but bad hardware. Apple gets both working together better but I'm happy they use the Samsung screens because Samsung spent years developing their OLED screen to be the best. Apple should always use the best hardware.

k2kw said:

MplsP said:

davgreg said:

Too bad end users will have no way of knowing which supplier made the display since more than a few consider Samsung a thief of IP. As to the price, OLED is not worth the extra $

I’m holding on to my iPhone 7 until Apple has a 5G ready phone, which the iPhone Excess (X S) has not been reported to be.

I'm guessing the LG screens will be used on certain models so there may be a way to take an educated guess.

I'm doubting this entire post. Is there any secondary confirmation of this? This could just be a fake LG leak so they don't look like they are missing out on all the business again.

Historically, Apple has not been the first to put the latest cellular modems in their phones, instead waiting for more robust and energy efficient revisions. As a practical matter, half the time I don't have a great LTE signal, and when I have 4 bars of LTE it's more than fast enough for me, so 5G far down the list of concerns for me.

I think I can live without 5G for a while longer. I'm more interested in who is supplying the modems? I thought there was a story that it wasn't INTEL and the Qualcomm CEO said not them. I'm not happy with the Intel modem in my ATT iphone 8Plus. Did Apple develop their own hardware since they knew they were doing the dual SIM? I have a iPhone 7plus and iphone 8 plus. I'm definitely interested in the Apple Xs but want to know more about the modem.

As far as Samsung goes, I don't disagree with your assessment, but the bottom line is that they are one of the best manufacturers in the world for screens. With all the acrimony between them, dont' you think Apple would rather go some place else? The fact that they use Samsung as a supplier despite a bitter, decade-long lawsuit is telling.

There were many Android apologists last year who said the LG screens on the Pixel2XL were fine in their reviews but still complain about them a year later. They say its for the Camera that does machine learning on the pictures (often great but sometime bad). Seems like Samsung can do good hardware but bad software and Google can do good software but bad hardware. Apple gets both working together better but I'm happy they use the Samsung screens because Samsung spent years developing their OLED screen to be the best. Apple should always use the best hardware.

All the reviews of the Pixel2 XL said that the screens were truly horrible, with images of them as proof.