According to a new report from the South Korean press, Samsung and Apple have reached an agreement in which the iPhone maker will source one hundred million OLED panels from the South Korean manufacturer. The deal is valued at $2.6 billion.
Rumors have been swirling around for a while now, regarding Apple’s move to OLED displays for its iPhone lineup. LG and Samsung were both viewed as potential partners in this move, due to the two companies already supplying OLED panels for the Apple Watch. Not only that, but both companies have been investing heavily in retooling manufacturing plants to churn out massive numbers of OLED displays.
The report claims that Apple and Samsung have reached a final agreement, after previous rumors had mentioned disagreements between the two companies on the pricing of displays. If this is true, Samsung will reportedly deliver around 100 million 5.5-inch OLED displays to Apple, beginning in 2017, with a three-year commitment.
Interestingly enough, Apple is expected to entirely revamp its iPhone lineup in 2017, as per the report of noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The company is rumored to be changing up the device’s design and returning to an all-glass approach, like it previously had with the iPhone 4. Though this upcoming redesign was rumored to feature a 5.8-inch screen, so it’s not clear if the 5.5-inch OLED screens are destined for the new iPhone, or whether Apple has more than one form-factor planned.
Still, we’re more than a year away before the rumored redesign comes into play, and Apple has a lot of time to change its plans until then, though this latest deal with Samsung seems to cement at least some of the rumors for future devices.
Source: Korean Herald Via: 9to5mac
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