Samsung will remain biggest OLED display supplier for iPhones in 2021

Apple seems to have big plans for 2021. Word is that the company is planning to ship around 180 million iPhones next year for which Samsung will be supplying a majority of the OLED display panels.

Apple’s iPhone 12 series consists of four iPhone models all of which come with an OLED display. The company is expected to ship around 100 million units of its iPhone 12 series this year. Next year, as mentioned before, the company is likely to ship between 160 million to 180 million iPhone units, which includes both iPhone 12 series smartphones and the iPhone 13 series smartphones that will be launched next year.

As per a report by The Elec, Samsung Display will be supplying around 140 million OLED display panels. Rest of the demand is expected to be fulfilled by LG Display and BOE. While LD Display is expected to provide around 30 million OLED panels, BOE is expected to provide OLED displays for 10 million iPhone units. The two companies, however, expect to provide over 40 million and around 20 million OLED panels respectively.

That said, it remains uncertain if BOE, which is based out of China, will enter Apple’s supply chain. The company has already failed to meet Apple’s requirements twice and hence its fate remains uncertain for now. It will be submitting a fresh application to enter Apple’s supply chain next year.

Lastly, the report says that Apple will be using LPTO TFT OLED panels in its iPhone models next year. This technology is needed to get the screens to achieve a refresh rate of 120Hz. Now, the report says that BOE remains behind in LPTO TFT display technology compared to LG Display and Samsung Display and hence its fate remains uncertain for now.