The Strategist

Apple to purchase 160 million OLED displays from Samsung



02/28/2017 - 14:02



Apple and Samsung signed a $ 11.4 billion-worth contract, according to The Wall Street Journal citing insiders. The South Korean company agreed to supply 160 million curved OLED displays for flagship iPhone 8, to be released this fall.



Kārlis Dambrāns
Kārlis Dambrāns
One of iPhone’s new models will receive a curved OLED-screen produced for Apple by its main competitor, South Korean Samsung Electronics. 

According to The Wall Street Journal’s sources, Apple - Samsung stipulates supply of 160 million displays for the new iPhone for a total sum of $ 11.4 billion. Tim Cook’s company will introduce three new products this fall, one of which will receive a curved OLED-display.

Earlier, media reported that the new IPhone could receive displays from LG or Japan Display, but they have not yet mastered this technology and will continue to deliver classic LCD displays. Samsung became the first company to introduce a smartphone with a curved screen. The company first introduced such screens in Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and new flagship models Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will receive such displays as well.

IPhone turns 10 years old in 2017, and a new generation of the famous gadget will be released this year. The new IPhone will undergo drastic changes compared to the last model. It will receive a frameless display that will occupy the entire front panel, retinal scanner eyes, wireless charging, front camera for 3D-selfie and a number of innovations.

IPhone’s anniversary will be the most expensive in American history of the company, according to Fast Company citing anonymous sources. Price tag for the new gadget will exceed the psychological level of $ 1 thousand. Now, the most expensive modification of the iPhone is IPhone 7 Plus with 256 GB of internal memory. It costs $ 969 in the US, while the most affordable iPhone 7 with 32 GB of memory costs $ 649.

Price tags of most other flagship smartphones also start at $ 600-700. Only producers of luxury brands have crossed the $1000 mark.

According to rumors, Apple plans to immediately release three iPhone models this year. Presumably, the 5,8 and 4,7-inch electronic gadgets will be equipped with cameras with dual lenses. As for iPhone 8 (or iPhone X), its back panel may be made entirely of glass instead of metal. 

Apple’s decision to choose OLED is explained by desire to rid iPhone from the physical button Home, making it a touch on the display surface. In addition, the new gadget may be deprived of physical side-buttons.

Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung have completed the fourth quarter with the smallest difference in the number of smartphones sold. This is evidenced by Gartner’s data.

According to the analysts, volume of the global smartphone market amounted to about 432 million units in October-December 2016, up 7% compared to the same period of 2015. 2016 ended with 1.5 billion units to 1.4 billion units in 2014. 

Result of the last three months of 2016 showed that Apple won back the first place in the market by selling about 77 million iPhone, which corresponds to 17.9 per cent market share. 

Second after Apple Inc., Samsung recorded 76.8 million units sold in the fourth quarter versus 83.4 million units sold in October-December 2015. The difference in number of smartphones sold between Apple and Samsung was the smallest in history - only 256 thousand units.

source: wsj.com




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