What They Say
The Elec reports that Apple is expected to ship 160 million to 180 million iPhones using OLED in 2021, quoting sources in Samsung Display (SD). Around 100 million will be iPhone 12. Of the total, SD hopes to supply 140 million, with LG Display at 30 million and BOE at 10 million. However, the paper said that LG Display hopes to double its 20 million panel sales from this year to 40 million in 2021 and BOE also hopes to sell 20 million.
The new phones next year are all expected to have on-cell touch and two of the four models will use LTPO for high refresh.
What We Think
As we reported elsewhere, the value in the OLED market is in the flexible OLEDs that Samsung dominates. It’s extremely difficult to make these displays, and Samsung’s experience and process control puts the firm into a very strong position to continue to dominate.
Separately, Nikkei reported that Apple plans to produce up to 96 million iPhones in the first half of 2021, up 30% on 2020, based on strong demand for 5G handsets. The tentative full-year forecast that Apple shared with its suppliers suggests it plans to build up to 230 million iPhones in 2021, including both old and new models (BR)
