LG does not stop producing panels, the new iPhones will once again have displays only from Samsung

One of the reasons (and probably the most important) why last year's iPhone X cost so much was the higher price of the new OLED panels that Samsung manufactures for Apple. Considering that it was the best that was currently on the market, Samsung paid a lot for the production. Therefore, in recent months, Apple has been trying to find other suppliers that would push the price of panels down at least a little based on the competitive struggle. For a long time, it looked like this second supplier would be LG, which built a new production plant for it. Today, however, a report appeared on the web that production is not reaching sufficient capacity and LG may be out of the game again.

Although Apple will introduce the new iPhones in less than five months, production will begin already during the holidays. The partners who will produce components for the new iPhones for Apple have only a few weeks to prepare for production. And it seems that LG is a bit slow in its new OLED panel factory. The American Wall Street Journal came up with information that production did not start according to plans and the entire process of starting production is facing major delays.

According to WSJ sources, LG is failing to produce OLED panels according to Apple's specifications, allegedly due to insufficient tuning of the manufacturing process. It was in the LG factory that the panels for the larger model that will replace the iPhone X were to be produced (it should be a kind of iPhone X Plus with a 6,5″ display). The second size of the displays was to be handled by Samsung. However, as it stands right now, Samsung will be making all the displays for Apple, which may bring a few inconveniences.

It stands to reason that if Apple wanted to produce two sizes of displays in two different factories, the production capacity of just one factory would be completely insufficient. If LG by June or July will not allow production to be fine-tuned to the required level, we may encounter a huge reduction in the availability of new iPhones in the fall. In short, one production hall will not be able to cover what two were originally supposed to do.

Thanks to the absence of a second manufacturer, it is also very likely that Samsung will again negotiate more favorable terms, which in practice means expensive OLED panels. This could have a significant impact on the price of new iPhones, which would not have to drop at all since last year. Apple is expected to introduce three new phones in September. In two cases, it will be the successor to the iPhone X in two sizes (5,8 and 6,5″). The third iPhone should be a kind of "entry" (cheaper) model with a classic IPS display and slightly reduced specifications.

Source: 9to5mac