Apparently, Samsung Display is charging Apple anywhere between $120 to $130 per OLED panel, which is more than double the cost of an LCD panel ($45 to $55) that is used in the iPhone 7 Plus. This increase in the bill of materials is likely to be passed on to the customers, significantly increasing the price of the next iPhone. It is now being reported that Apple is in urgent need of searching for a second OLED supplier so that it can take away some of the bargaining power from Samsung.
While LG has used an OLED screen in the V30, the quality and consistency of the panel are nowhere close to the ones found on the Galaxy S8 and the Note 8. Moreover, LG can't produce OLED panels at a scale that Samsung can. So, Apple has reportedly invested around $2 billion into LG Display to secure OLED panels for future iPhones. Even Google has invested in LG and will source OLED panels from the company for the upcoming Pixel phones.
