LG currently supplies display panels for both iPads and iPhones, but the company may revamp its iPad screen supply line to manufacture iPhones. LG has reportedly sought Apple’s approval to make the renovations and is awaiting confirmation.
The reason the company believes its tablet display line should be able to produce both iPads and iPhones is simply because the 11-inch iPad Pro and its sibling, the 13-inch iPad Pro (2024), have been selling poorly. The number of units shipped for the first OLED display iPad was reportedly revised downward to 6.7 million units instead of 10 million units.
In fact, the iPad Pro (2024) only sold in the first quarter of its release, after which even its OLED display and screechingly fast processor failed to convince more users that they needed it. To add insult to injury, sales have been far weaker for the more expensive iPad Pro 13-inch, which is exactly where LG supplies its OLED screen.
Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone still enjoys the novelty factor, and LG expects to take orders for 60 million iPhones this year, compared to the 52 million screens it produced last year. We are making preparations for this.
LG can make quite a few iPhones from one iPad OLED screen. |Image credit – PhoneArena
Converting LG’s iPad product line for iPhone screens is much faster and cheaper than building additional screens to accommodate increased demand for iPhone displays. That’s why LG aims to maintain ultimate flexibility by retrofitting its iPad production set to also make iPhones should things get tough for Apple’s Pro tablet line.
