LG Display starts production of 400,000 OLED panels for Apple

LG Display has reportedly started to mass produce OLED panels for Apple, which could be used in 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 of ETNews. Now the parts and materials have been received by LG's E-6 facility in Paju, South Korea, the company has started to make progress in creating the ordered panels.

It is claimed production will ramp up 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 size the panels supplied by LG Display will be, as they can be supplied as large panels and cut down to more appropriate sizes, meaning each panel could yield multiple displays. So, 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 an OLED panel supplier to Apple for the Apple Watch, but the vast bulk of OLED orders have been produced by Samsung. 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 OLED panels — but that turned out to be not the case so far.

3 Comments

melgross 33607 comments · 20 Years

About 6 years ago

Let’s keep our fingers crossed. The new Pixel 3 uses an LG display.while Ir doesn’t have most of the problems LGs displays had last year, its max brightness is just 400 nits, like OLED displays from 4 years ago, and while black clipping is better than last year, it’s still there. Samsung and Apple’s displays don’t black clip at all.

while I believe Apple won’t ship a display like that, until we see them, we won’t know.

gregg thurman 456 comments · 16 Years

"A report in September seemingly confirmed the rumors LG would be tapped for iPhone XS OLED panels —but that turned out to be not the case so far."

This is a good example of why people shouldn't believe any of these so-called research notes/anonymous sources articles.

There are so many of them, with so few being accurate.

When Apple introduced the 5.8" iPhone X reports then were that LG wouldn't be ready to supply Apple with OLED displays (for the iPhone) until 2nd half 2019 at the earliest. Now it's being reported that supply will commence 7 months earlier.

A year ago LG didn't have the capacity, or the quality required, to supply Apple, and was just then commencing construction on a new OLED production facility. One year from start to completion is wholly unrealistic.

I'm sticking with the belief that LG will get some OLED production, but not all, by 2nd half 2019. 2020/2021 is another story.