If there’s any substance to a new supply chain report Tuesday, LG Display beat out rivals like Samsung, Sharp, and Japan Display as Apple had reportedly selected the South Korea-based firm as its top display supplier for the upcoming iPhone 6.
Based on a massive amount of orders, analysts are expecting iPhone 6 shipments in the ballpark of 70 million units during a three-month span.
The huge order should be enough to keep suppliers such as LG Display busy in the months ahead. RBC Capital Markets in a note to clients yesterday cited latest supply chain data, upping its forecast of Apple’s orders to as many as 80 million units of both 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 variants.
This compares to the 60 million iPhones ordered during the same period of last year…
A report by Feng.com [Google Translate] and relayed by GforGames indicates that LG Display was able to steal orders from the likes of Samsung, Sharp and Japan Display to become the largest display supplier for the iPhone 6.
GforGames goes on to speculate that the high number of iPhone orders “might encourage or force some of the suppliers to increase their prices for companies other than Apple”.
The write-up stops short of detailing just how many iPhone 6 display units Apple may have ordered from LG Display. It was previously reported that Apple dropped Samsung and Sharp amid quality control issues while adding Taiwan-based Innolux to the supply chain for iPhone 6 screens.
As per usual, take the report with a grain of salt.
Tim Cook repeatedly warned investors not to base their estimates on any single supply chain data point because the world of supply chains is a complex beast. For what it’s worth, LG Display was mentioned in the past as a possible iWatch screen supplier (according to some, on an exclusive basis).