Currently, Samsung is the only supplier of OLED displays for the iPhone X as part of a supply agreement between Samsung and Apple. According to a report from Apple Insider, Apple may now use high-end OLED screens in more of its devices and all of this mainly because it may satisfy a penalty it supposedly owes to its OLED supplier, Samsung Display. Despite the success of the iPhone X, Samsung Display claims that Apple has not been able to meet the minimum order requirements. According to a report from ETnews, “this repayment might even see Samsung’s OLED screens appearing in Apple products that have never featured them before, including notebooks and tablets.”
Etnews also reports,” Samsung Display’s earnings have plummeted from $4.9 billion in 2017, to $2.3 billion in 2018. To offset this, Samsung Display is seeking a penalty fee for unfilled contracts, which has produced 50% less business than expected.”
If the OLED expectations come out to be true, Apple will probably simply be soon seen replacing the current LCD with an OLED instead. According to chatter in South Korea, that may end up happening sooner rather than later, if Samsung Display has its way.
However, a safer bet will be that we will see an OLED screen come to the low-cost iPhone XR’s successor since that’s another rumor we’ve already heard before from none other than Kuo. That phone will apparently release in 2020, alongside the first 5G iPhone. Apple says “The iPhone XR is its best-selling phone, so putting one of these displays into a popular, somewhat affordable iPhone might be a good way to move a lot of OLEDs and satisfy Samsung at the same time.”