According to industry sources, Samsung Display signed a contract with Apple early this month to supply 100 million units of 5-inch-plus OLED panels for iPhone 7s.
The value of this deal is estimated at around 3 trillion won. Apple plans to use OLED panels for its 5.8-inch premium iPhone 7 models which are expected to be released in the latter half of 2017.
To supply tens of millions of OLED panels to Apple each year, Samsung Display plans to add additional production lines at its plant in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.
The contract would increase Samsung Display’s investment in A3 plant up to 10 trillion won. Samsung Display has commercialized OLED technology first in the world in 2007 and dominates the global smartphone OLED panel market with a share of 99 percent.
The OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is a next-generation display technology that consists of small dots of organic polymer that emit light in response to an electric current. The unit production cost of OLED displays is higher than that of conventional displays, so Samsung was the only one which has been using the OLED displays for its smartphone series.
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