Apple will finally succumb to the siren song of OLED displays with the forthcoming iPhone 8, as supplied by Samsung. But looking further down the road, Tim Cook & Co. are reportedly securing their OLED supply for 2019 and beyond with a $2.7 billion investment in panel production with their longtime LCD partner LG Display. A sister business, LG Chem, is already set to supply Apple with batteries for its iPhone 9 exclusively, The Korea Economic Daily reported.
“Apple has decided to invest 3 trillion won (US$2.70 billion) in LG Display’s OLED production for smartphones, the Korea Economic Daily reported on July 28. Apple will reportedly make the investment as advance payment for the planned panel supplies from the Korean display maker.”