Samsung to spend $8.9 billion on expanding OLED production this year

Samsung has the best of both worlds. With Android, the company has its new flagship duo in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+. And with iOS, the manufacturer is a major supplier of components for the Apple iPhone. A new report published today says that Samsung plans on spending $8.9 billion this year to expand production of OLED panels. One reason to spend that kind of money on this project is Apple's expected transition to OLED for the iPhone.

The tenth anniversary model, dubbed the Apple iPhone 8, is expected to be the first iPhone to employ an OLED screen instead of the customary LCD display. The handset is expected to be unveiled later this year, perhaps by September. The Apple iPhone 7s and Apple iPhone 7s Plus are both expected to stick with LCD panels. By 2018, all iPhone models are reportedly going to be carrying OLED screens. And that is why Sammy is making its investment right now.

With 95% of the market, Samsung's OLED panels are in demand. In fact, the latest stats show that 70% of Samsung's phones employ OLED over LCD. And in addition to Apple, there is talk that Chinese smartphone manufacturers are making the switch for their high-end handsets. To cover this increasing demand, and to keep its share of the market high, Samsung needs to expand its production of these screens.

Apple and Samsung have supposedly signed two contracts regarding the sale of OLED displays to the iPhone manufacturer. The two contracts are said to cover 160 million units. For 60 million OLED panels, Apple paid Samsung $4.3 billion, which explains why this is a worthwhile expense for the South Korean tech giant.

source: TheKoreaHerald via BGR