Samsung set for record Q3 profit on iPhone 14 series shipments

Samsung Display Co. is expected to report its strongest results for the current quarter, after the South Korean OLED panel maker sharply increased shipments to Apple Inc. for its upcoming iPhone 14 series, according to industry sources on Wednesday.

In August alone, Samsung’s operating profit is estimated to have already matched its usual quarterly earnings. Last year, its third-quarter operating profit came to 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion).

It supplies organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels used in all of the iPhone 14 series composed of two premium models and two budget types.   

Notably, it swept the first-round order for panels equipped in the two premium iPhone 14 Pro models.

Samsung is the world’s largest supplier of small and medium-sized OLED panels for use in smartphones and laptops.

Apple is predicted to produce a total of 34 million units of the four-model iPhone 14 lineup in the July-September period, according to the Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC).

Samsung accounted for a whopping 82% of OLED displays used in the third-quarter volume of the latest iPhones series. LG Display Co. and China’s BOE Technology filled the remainder with 12% and 6%, respectively.

By comparison, Samsung’s share of OLED panels for the iPhone 13 series was at the low end of the 70% range, while LG Display’s share was at the high end of the 20% range.

For the premium iPhone 14 Pro models, Samsung shipped thin-film-transistor (TFT) OLED displays adopting low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) technology. By comparison, the display panels used in its budget types employ low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS).

LTPO features higher screen brightness and energy efficiency than LTPS. Samsung mass produced LTPO panels in 2019 for the first time in the world. LG Display developed the technology last year.

Apple had planned to split the first-round order for LTPO TFT panels between Samsung and LG.

But Samsung took the volume allotted to LG as well. It amounted to at least 8 million display units worth over 1 trillion won ($720 million). LG was said to have suffered a delay in its first production of the latest OLED type.

But industry insiders said there is still room for LG to win new orders for the iPhone 14 Pro series.

The weakening won boosts the price competitiveness of Korean panel makers. The currency tumbled to its lowest level against the dollar in almost 13 and a half years on Wednesday, 

Samsung Display tends to report stronger results in the second half -- when Apple normally releases its new iPhone series -- than in the first half. Expectations are rising among its employees to see their largest-ever bonuses this year.

Write to Sung-Soo Bae at baebae@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.