Supplying components to other companies is a big part of Samsung's business. As far as mobile OLED panels are concerned, there's no one that can match Samsung's quality and production capacity.
So it's no surprise to see that even Apple sources the OLED panels for its iPhones from Samsung. The two companies are otherwise tough competitors in the smartphone market, but they do have a symbiotic relationship.
Samsung's foldable OLED panel shipments are picking up as well
Samsung Display has seen a significant increase in its OLED shipments for Q3 2021. The launch of the iPhone 13 has contributed to that. Data from UBI Research shows that Samsung shipped 124.76 million OLED panels in the third quarter of this year. Shipments are up 24.6% compared to Q2 2021.
OLED panels for mid-range and low-end smartphones accounted for 50.2% or 62.63 million units of its total shipments for the quarter. Flexible OLED panels used in Samsung's high-end phones and Apple's iPhones accounted for 46.6% or 58.2 million units of the total. Out of these, 38.31 million units were shipped to Apple, almost double the supply that Cupertino got from Samsung in Q3 2020.
Samsung Display also shipped 3.93 million units of foldable OLED panels, representing 3.2% of its total shipments. All of these panels were utilized by Samsung Electronics for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. The clamshell foldable has been doing very well. No wonder that foldable OLED panel supply for the Galaxy Z Flip 3 was double that of the Galaxy Z Fold 3.
The share of Samsung's foldable OLED displays will continue to increase in the future. Samsung is expected to further expand its foldable smartphone lineup. Other companies that may be thinking of launching foldable smartphones may also need to source these OLEDs from Samsung Display.
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