Samsung is reportedly building world’s biggest OLED plant to service Apple

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battery
Apple's gonna need a bigger boat. Or OLED factory, at least.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Samsung won all the orders for the iPhone 8’s OLED displays, and according to a new report it now wants to make itself even more indispensable by building the world’s biggest OLED plant, so as to be able to churn out more displays than ever.

According to sources, Samsung Display’s new “A5” facility will give it the ability to produce up to 270,000 OLED panels per month. At present, Samsung is able to produce around 135,000 panels per month: a number it aimed to achieve only after Apple began expressing an interest in OLED displays.

Investments in the new facility will be finalized at a meeting with the Samsung Display board of directors next month. It’s likely to cost Samsung n the region of $20 billion to outfit the plant with the necessary equipment.

Mo screens, mo problems

According to reports, Apple’s premium iPhone 8 device is expected to come with an OLED display, while Apple will also put out “s” model iPhone 7s and 7s Plus upgrades that will stick with its existing LCD screens. Even with that being the case, however, Apple’s huge demand for OLED displays for the iPhone 8 is expected to strain the entire world supply.

Additional rumors have stated that Apple’s suppliers have had issues producing OLED displays in sufficient quantities for the next-gen device, potentially resulting in its delay this fall.

Whichever way you split it, when Apple makes the leap to using OLED displays for all its iPhone models, that’s going to mean a whole lot more displays being created — which is obviously something Samsung wants to capitalize on. Hey, who wouldn’t want to cosy up to Apple right now?

Want more info about the upcoming next-gen iPhones? Read this: Everything we think we know about the iPhone 8.

Source: ETNews

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