iPhone 11 to go with Samsung’s M9 OLED material set: sources

As Apple has apparently decided to go with the same M9 OLED panel material set used in Samsung’s Galaxy series smartphones for its upcoming new iPhone, Samsung SDI won’t be supplying related materials to the California-based company any longer.

Samsung SDI had been supplying green host materials (PGH) to the LT2 sets that Samsung Display developed for the iPhone X in 2017 when Apple decided to give OLED a try. 

Industry sources said on Aug. 15 that the iPhone 11 will most likely be fitted with the M9 OLED panel set used for Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10, provided by Samsung Display.

“The material sets are decided by Samsung Display, to be built by the handset manufacturers,” said one supplier for the display maker. “For instance, the OLED panels that LG Display supplies to Apple will use the material set approved by LG Display.”

Usually, Samsung Display applies its latest and most advanced material sets for Samsung’s flagship smartphones. After a while, the sets are applied to mid-tier and budget phones. Samsung Display upgrades or replaces the sets for Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note series every two years.

One former worker at Samsung Display said that up until last year, there used to be an exclusive team within Samsung Display called the ‘A Team,” that had handled all issues regarding Apple. This team, he added, had to sign separate non-disclosure agreements.

Apple has reportedly decided to go with the M9 after it was unable to pay for non-recurring engineering expenses for developing new sets. This comes after Apple was forced to fork over a hefty penalty to Samsung Display in the second quarter of this year for failing to take a promised amount of panels.

Meanwhile, Japan’s NSCM will supply the OLED materials for the M9 sets.

The Elec is South Korea's No.1 tech news platform.