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LG Display is preparing to supply Apple with OLED display panels destined for upcoming iPad models, ETNews reports.

OLED-iPad-Pro-Feature.jpg

LG's preparations to supply Apple with OLED displays for the iPad reportedly include the expansion of its plant in Paju, South Korea. The increased production capacity is said to take account of next-generation iPhone and iPad models.

The introduction of OLED panels to the iPad ostensibly presents a new opportunity for LG Display due to the size and aspect ratio of the device's display, which rival suppliers are currently not able to facilitate as easily. A separate recent report claimed that BOE is similarly gearing up to supply OLED panels for future iPad models.

Although an OLED display could come to the iPad for the first time next year, LG is planning to start mass production of these panels at the Paju facility in 2024. This timing broadly lines up with other recent reports, which has placed the launch of the OLED iPad between 2023 and 2024.

Early last year, LG was forced to halt LCD panel production for the iPhone and shut down its smartphone division. The company has since restructured its business toward OLED panels and is accelerating the expansion of its production capacity. Now, LG plans to aggressively increase its presence in Apple's display supply chain with an expansion investment strategy that will enable the Paju plant to make twice as many sixth-generation OLED panels by 2024.

Article Link: LG Preparing to Supply OLED Panels for iPad by 2024
 
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Makes sense to grow. With BOE coming to the front, LG has to worry about CSOT entering the Apple OLED supply chain. It’s a chicken and the egg situation as well. Without capacity, Apple would even consider you.
 
Seems like it's really lagging behind the timeframe that the iPhone got for the OLED display. Wonder why it's taking Apple so long to tackle something like this...for goodness sake, you can get it up to 75" as a display now...should be able to easily make OLED displays for the iPad. No?
 
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I was ready to pull the trigger on a C1 last year but ended up waiting. The Samsung QDOLED seem more promising now. Since they are making TV and monitors with it they seem confident in the long term reliability of it.
 
Yes. That’s my point. You can’t assume that just because apple uses a particular supplier for something that the entire device will then be manufactured in that country.
Sometimes the products do get shipped from elsewhere besides China. So, I was just wondering if that's what the case is going to be for the future iPhones and iPads. Time will tell.
 
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Related news to this rumor

LG Display to expand its small and medium-sized OLED plant in Paju - Korean IT News 1/17

LG Display is going to expand its small and medium-sized OLED plant in Paju. Small and medium-sized OLEDs are part of the KRW 3.3 trillion investment strategy that was announced last year. If core equipment is installed, 6th generation OLED production capacity will double by 2024. It is expected to mainly be used as a supply chain for Apple mobile and tablet panels.

According to the industry on the 16th, LG Display is preparing large-scale facilities for new production lines of 6th generation OLEDs in Paju this fall.

Exposure equipment will be installed into the entire process for Paju's P9 plant line (E6) and P10 plant line (E7). The exposure machine is used to draw a circuit by stinging light on a display transistor (TFT) glass substrate. Its investment cost alone amounts to tens of billions of won as OLED essential OLED equipment.

LG Display is planning to order more than eight additional Japanese Canon exposure machines. Reports indicate that by 2024, the production capacity of panels of 6th generation or older will increase to more than 700,000 sheets per year. LG Display operates P9 plants for smartphones and their P10 plant for information technology (IT) related devices, including tablets.

LG Display confirmed its investment plan, worth KRW 3.3 trillion, to expand small and medium-sized OLEDs last year. LG Display has switched from liquid crystal display (LCD) to an OLED business and is accelerating their small and medium-sized OLEDs after preoccupying large OLEDs.

Large-scale expansion plans take into account the supply of panels for Apple's next smartphone and tablet. Apple has a target of selling more than 300 million smartphones this year.

Apple has introduced OLEDs to smartphones since late 2018. It is predicted that OLED application to iPads will also begin in two days. Since the iPad contains OLED panels that are wider than the iPhone, it is expected to be a new opportunity for LG Display's OLED business.

LG Display is planning to start mass production from 2024 by sequentially installing small and medium-sized OLED process equipment into Paju, focusing on major partners.

An official from LG Display said, "We will not disclose details related to customers.
As you can see there is nothing confirmed, just speculation.
 
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Seems like it's really lagging behind the timeframe that the iPhone got for the OLED display. Wonder why it's taking Apple so long to tackle something like this...for goodness sake, you can get it up to 75" as a display now...should be able to easily make OLED displays for the iPad. No?
Sometimes display tech is easier to make at a particular size than at others. Those 75” TVs have very few pixels per inch and the manfacturing process may be different than a high ppi panel like in iPads and iPhones. The technology used in iPhone panels may more difficult to scale up to iPad size and produce in the quantities that Apple needs at the price that Apple needs.

Also, OLED screen in iPhones are not usually lit up with static elements as long as an iPad screen. The phone screens are set to turn off as quickly as they can to prevent burn-in. IPads are often used in more laptop-type usages where the screen is lit for extended periods. Burn-in is a greater risk in this case. It may take additional changes to the panels to reduce burn-in.
 
Sometimes the products do get shipped from elsewhere besides China. So, I was just wondering if that's what the case is going to be for the future iPhones and iPads. Time will tell.

You can’t just say “time will tell” as if there’s any evidence at all that it will happen. “Maybe iphones will start being made on Mars. Time will tell. Maybe I’ll sprout wings and fly. Time will tell.”
 
Not in the cards.

Pretty much says it, never mind Luxshare dreams.
Jeff Pu, a veteran tech analyst with Haitong Securities, told Nikkei Asia that Chinese tech manufacturers such as Luxshare and Wingtech have long served domestic smartphone makers such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo and now need to expand their market share and seek new growth opportunities, including by targeting the Apple supply chain.

"Many Chinese manufacturers, including Luxshare, not only could offer lower prices but also are highly flexible and could offer agile adjustments to meet Apple's requests, which is what [Apple CEO] Tim Cook values highly. ... They are among the earliest to build manufacturing plants in Southeast Asia to help Apple diversify production to avoid U.S. tariffs," said Pu, referring to tariffs slapped on Chinese goods under former President Donald Trump. "Not to mention they definitely have good government support when it comes to building new plants in China.
All these Chinese manufacturers would love to dethrone Foxconn, but is it in the cards?
 
Pretty much says it, never mind Luxshare dreams.

All these Chinese manufacturers would love to dethrone Foxconn, but is it in the cards?

After the Wistron riot and the Foxconn food poisoning incidents, I think Apple is keen to diversify their portfolio of partners. Luxshare helped Apple design and manufacture AirPods. They now help assemble mini LED display modules for Apple. Kuo believes they will do the 2023 iPhone SE. I think the direction is pretty clear.
 
At the end of the day you are just gonna use it read Macrumors about the next iPad, read Google News and watch MKBHD unboxings.
 
Seems like it's really lagging behind the timeframe that the iPhone got for the OLED display. Wonder why it's taking Apple so long to tackle something like this...for goodness sake, you can get it up to 75" as a display now...should be able to easily make OLED displays for the iPad. No?
I would say partly apple bread crumbs with releases and partly won’t do unless Apple gets the price they want.
 
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