Major Apple supplier shifts production of key component from iPad Pro to iPhone
Sales of the first iPads to sport an OLED display, the 11-inch iPad Pro (2024) and the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024), have dropped off after a decent start. As a result, the company that supplies Apple with the OLED panels for its top-of-the-line tablets, LG Display, is going to make a change to its iPad OLED production line. LG Display's plan is to adjust the line so that it can also manufacture additional OLED panels for the iPhone.
By making this change, LG Display will save money while at the same time increasing its capacity for building iPhone OLED screens. LG Display's current iPhone OLED panel production is handled by its E6-1, E6-2, and E6-3 lines. Adding another line, each of which produces as many as 15,000 Gen 6 glass substrates per month, would cost LG Display approximately 2 trillion Korean won ($1.4 billion). Creating the line to build the iPad OLED panels cost the company $2.3 billion.
LG Display hopes to supply Apple with 70 million iPhone OLED displays this year. That would be up from the mid-60 million shipped to Apple last year and the 51.8 million iPhone OLED panels delivered in 2023.
There is a difference between both types of OLED panels. The iPad displays have two emission layers compared to one for the iPhone panels. In addition, iPad OLED panels feature a glass substrate with thin film encapsulation (TFE) while iPhone OLED displays use a plastic substrate with TFE. To convert the production of iPad OLED panels to iPhone OLED panels, LG Display will be able to skip some steps while adding some necessary equipment.
Since both OLED panels require different materials to make, each will be produced at different times. Because demand for the iPad Pro (2024) tablets isn't expected to pick up this year, LG Display will keep some inventory of iPad OLED panels while it shifts the line to production of additional iPhone OLED panels. Apple will still need to sign off on the new production line making OLED panels for the iPhone. The deadline for this approval is February since the supplier has enough iPad OLED panels to last until then.
The iPad Pro (2024) 11-inch and 13-inch models were the first iPads ever to be equipped with an OLED display. They were released this past May.
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