At present, the OLED screens used in high-end iPhone models are mainly supplied by Samsung Display, and partly by Lekin Display. Two South Korean panel factories totally controlled 96% of the global OLED market last year. If Beijing and Oriental enter the supply chain of the iPhone, it may break the situation that Korean panel factories almost monopolize the global OLED panel market.
The report points out that, compared with Samsung products on the existing iPhone, the price of OLED panels purchased from Beijing Oriental will be reduced by about 20%, which will help Apple cut costs and recover market territory, reduce its dependence on Samsung's supply, increase bargaining chips with Samsung, and hopefully mitigate the impact of the US-China tariff war.
To cut costs and reduce reliance on Samsung Electronics, Apple is commissioning Beijing Oriental, a top Chinese display maker, to test the latest cutting-edge iPhone screens. At present, Beijing Oriental has entered the final stage of the authentication test for the new iPhone screen. It is reported that Apple is "actively testing" the flexible OLED screen of Beijing Oriental, which will decide whether to use the screen provided by Beijing Oriental before the end of this year.
Earlier, Beijing Dongfang said that the company has put into production or planned four flexible AMOLED production lines of the 6th generation. Chengdu's 6th generation flexible AMOLED production line has been mass-produced, Mianyang's 6th generation flexible AMOLED production line is expected to be mass-produced in the second half of this year. The company supplies flexible AMOLED display for Huawei Mate X mobile phone, and maintains good strategic cooperation with Huawei.
According to CITIC, with the positive layout of terminal factories, Mini backlight ushered in industrial scale application opportunities. With the improvement of process maturity, the cost of some Mini LED backlight LCD displays has been lower than OLED. Apple, Samsung and other front-line terminal manufacturers are positively laying out related technology products. Mini LED backlight display production is expected to be in 2020. Products will be expected to be shipped. At present, the manufacturing cost of Mini LED backlight module accounts for about 80% and the material cost accounts for about 20%. With the improvement of chip transfer efficiency, the manufacturing cost is expected to continue to decline in the future, and drive the overall cost down and product application penetration. We believe that Mini backlight will be the core improvement scheme of LCD display, with display effect comparable to WOLED products, long cycle with continuous cost reduction space. It is suggested that attention should be paid to the beneficiaries of the industrial chain, such as Medium and Micro Corporation, Sanan Optoelectronics, Guoxing Optoelectronics, Ruifeng Optoelectronics, TCL Group, etc.
