As leading manufacturers of mobile OLED panels, LG Display and Samsung Display are both an integral part of Apple's supply chain ever since the company made the shift to OLED panels for the iPhone. With the iPhone 16 lineup expected to arrive in a few weeks, the approval of suppliers for the new handset has begun.
Samsung Display generally gets the approvals before other companies in the supply chain, including LG Display, do. It has never happened before that LG Display beats Samsung Display to the approve, but it has reportedly happened now.
LG Display manages to beat Samsung Display to get iPhone 16 Pro Max orders
According to a report out of South Korea, LG Display has been approved by Apple to supply OLED display panels for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, the top-of-the-line model in its upcoming lineup. LG has been able to beat Samsung Display to the approval, something that it has never done before.
Samsung Display could eventually get approval to supply panels for these models as well. Both companies have already been approved by Apple to supply OLED panels for the iPhone 16 Pro models. Being able to edge Samsung here will give LG Display an advantage to close the gap to its cross-town rival, even as LG Display's OLED production is lower than Samsung Display.
It's an achievement nonetheless for LG Display which has almost always lost the chance to supply panels for the initial stock of new iPhones. It usually gets added to the supply chain later on. This has enabled Samsung Display to pick up the bulk of the orders as Apple goes for a big initial production run. Samsung Display thus ends up with higher margins on the panels it supplies.
LG Display has picked up a lot more orders from Apple this year. It's also going to be supplying the OLED panels for Apple's iPad Pros. Samsung will remain part of the supply chain, but may now see lower margins on its sales to Apple.
