LG Display has stopped making LCD screens for the iPhone and has given up hope of doing so in the future, according to a supply chain report. Separately, the company said it could stop making its own smartphones.
LG has a long, but somewhat troubled, history in the manufacture of iPhone screens …
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LG has already rivaled Samsung as a key supplier of iPhone screens, and Apple has benefited from having two companies capable of meeting technical and volume requirements. Two suppliers provided redundancy in Apple’s supply chain, in addition to giving the company negotiating strength when it came to allocating orders to the two companies.
Things changed when Apple started making the transition to OLED with the iPhone X. LG was slow to recognize the industry trend from LCD to OLED and was ill-prepared for Apple’s move. This left Samsung as the sole supplier of Apple’s flagship phones for some time.
LG has finally managed to reach and win OLED orders from Apple, but has had technical problems even after doing so – and Samsung still maintains the technical leadership.
LG stopped making LCD screens for iPhone
LG also continued to make LCD screens for older Apple iPhones, but a report in TheElec says he stopped doing it in the third quarter of last year and has now abandoned plans to try again.
LG Display halted the production of liquid crystal panels (LCD) for iPhones, TheElec discovered […] LG Display halted production of the iPhone’s LCD on its AP3 line in Gumi in the third quarter. The line also stopped making panels for other phones in the fourth quarter.
For LG Display, the LCD line for iPhones has had low profitability. Apple also used organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels instead of its iPhone 12 series. Sales of iPhones with OLED are also expected to exceed sales of LCD panels this year.
Apple’s LCD model, the iPhone SE, launched last year, will use LCD panels from JDI and Sharp. LG Display had previously tried to provide LCD for the iPhone SE model 2019, but failed.
The factory that made the LCD screens is being reused to make display panels for cars. LG is the current market leader in automotive monitors nine inches or larger.
Apple will not be short of LCD vendors, however, with Japan Display and Sharp doing so.
Photo: Felipe Bustillo at Unsplash
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