More OLED panel makers including LG and Sharp to compete for upcoming iPhones

As Samsung is the sole supplier of OLED display panels for Apple's iPhone X in 2017, other companies like LG Display, Sharp and other OLED panel makers in Japan and China are now gearing up efforts to develop OLED technology aiming to compete with Samsung Electronics this year.

According to the reports, LG Display to have higher potential to compete against Samsung, as LG Display reportedly in line to supply some OLED panels to this year's new range of iPhones, which is expected to include two new 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch iPhone models with OLED displays. LG Display will supply Apple with the 6.5-inch OLED panels, while Samsung will supply the 5.8-inch panels.

According to DigiTimes, “China currently has a total of 13 fabs capable of rolling out small- to medium-sized OLED panels. The combined production capacity of these 13 fabs will reportedly reach 350,000 substrates a month if all of them come online.”

Other suppliers include Sharp, now a Foxconn Electronics company is likely to come next to Japan Display (JDI) to produce OLED screens as early as in the second quarter of 2018. Sharp also aims to make flexible OLED screens on some of its own premium smartphone models set to launch this year.