Samsung and LG to supply hole-punch displays for Apple iPhone 14 lineup

According to the latest report by Korean media TheElec, next year’s iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will feature LTPO OLED display panels supplied by Samsung and LG.

There have been rumors that 2022 iPhone models will not have a notch when Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that they will adopt a hole-punch design instead, a design that Android devices have been using for a few years.

Adding to this, Kuo considers that at least the high-end iPhone models will have a hole-punch design, all the iPhone models coming in 2022 may have the same notchless design.

As per TheElec’s report, Samsung, Apple’s leading OLED panel supplier, supplies all the hole-punch panels for the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 Pro, while LG shares orders with the display for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Samsung supplied the Notched LTPO TFT OLED panels used in both Pro models in the iPhone 13 series this year, but despite participating in panel development with Apple, the LG Display did not win any panel orders for the iPhone 13.

The panel will be moved to line E6 after in-production, where LTPO will deposit the organic material to complete the TFT OLED panel. These are the same steps and features that its LTPS TFT OLED panels take, so the LTPS TFT OLED panels take up less space so the LG display will be less supplied to Apple next year.

Therefore, winning a few orders for the iPhone 14 Pro Max is a big boost for LG, as it looks like it’s stepping into Apple’s iPhone supply chain. In the meantime, this will allow Apple to reduce its dependence on Samsung and gain influence in price negotiations.