Samsung Display ships more OLED panels for iPhones than expected

Despite a strained relationship between Apple and Samsung Display, the South Korean manufacturer continues to be the leading supplier of OLED panels for iPhones. In fact, it has been going so well that it will ship a higher number than expected. Depending on the volumes in December, the total will be somewhere in the range of 40-50 million panels.

Samsung Display is shipping 90% of the OLED panels used by iPhones, including the latest 11 Pro models. LG Display is supplying 7-8 million panels for the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Here are Samsung’s numbers by month (the October and November numbers are estimates).

Interestingly, the forecast for September was originally only 6.9 million, but due to high demand for the new iPhone 11 Pro models, Samsung Display increased the shipments by 40%.

That’s quite the opposite of what happened early this year when weak demand for the XS generation led to slashed orders and an operating loss of $478 million for Q1. In Q2 Samsung Display reported $641 million in profits (largely thanks to a $683 million reimbursement from Apple for missed sales targets).

As for the iPhone 11, it gets its LCDs from JDI, LG Display and Sharp. All 2020 iPhone models are expected to switch to OLED, save for the so-called iPhone SE 2 (which will stick to LCD).

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