With the release of the new iPhone series and the iPhone X expect to see most reviewers focus on pitting the device against the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 as if no other device is worthy of joining the competition.
There is an ironic twist to this Apple vs Samsung saga because Samsung is the supplier of the most crucial ingredient of apple’s iPhone X-its beautiful OLED screen.
Samsung along with LG is the world’s leader in OLED display technology, and though LG has ramped up production recently, up until early this year, Samsung was the only manufacturer with the manpower (and tech power) to produce the quantity that Apple needed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Samsung is set to make around $110 per iPhone X sold. That’s more than 10% of the iPhone’s retail price going to Samsung’s bottom line. In fact, according to analyst firm Counterpoint, Apple is expected to sell 130 million iPhone X over the next two years, which would give Samsung close to $14 billion in additional revenue.
For what it’s worth, Samsung is only estimated to make $10 billion in profits from its own Galaxy S8 devices over that same span. This means the iPhone X is bringing Samsung more money than the company’s own flagship. If that’s not being lucky then I don’t know what is.
Apple, perhaps not wanting to continually help rival Samsung this much, is rumored to be considering a switch to LG for its next round of OLED panels starting in 2019.
Update on the OLED screen supplier to Apple
Until now, Samsung has been Apple’s sole OLED screen supplier since the iPhone X was introduced in 2017. Samsung, which agreed to provide around 100 million OLED displays in the initial deal, had enjoyed a monopoly, which allowed the company to control pricing. If LG enters the picture as a second supplier, it could minimize Apple’s reliance on Samsung.