Apple is reportedly planning to make OLED displays the standard across all its iPhone models starting next year, including its budget-friendly iPhone SE series. According to a report by Nikkei, this strategic shift will likely end the longstanding partnership between Apple and two of its Japanese suppliers—Japan Display Inc. (JDI) and Sharp—who have been providing liquid crystal (LCD) panels for years.
JDI and Sharp once controlled about 70% of the iPhone display market, a dominant position they held until Apple began its transition to OLED screens nearly a decade ago. Since then, their contributions have been limited to providing LCD panels for the low-cost iPhone SE, while Apple moved its flagship models to OLED technology supplied primarily by South Korean and Chinese manufacturers.

Industry insiders say Apple has already placed orders for OLED panels for the next generation of iPhone SE devices from China’s BOE Technology Group and South Korea’s LG Display. This marks the end of the LCD era for Apple’s smartphones, with the affordable SE model joining the standard iPhones and premium Pro versions in adopting the OLED display.
Currently, Samsung Electronics is the primary supplier of OLED panels for iPhones, providing nearly half of the displays. LG Display supplies around 30%, while China’s BOE contributes approximately 20%. Both JDI and Sharp have been left behind, as neither mass-produces OLED displays for smartphones. Their shipments of LCD panels to Apple are expected to cease once the current iPhone SE model phases out.
OLED technology, which stands for organic light-emitting diodes, produces images with vivid colors and high contrast by using organic compounds that emit red, green, and blue light without the need for a backlight. This technology offers a superior viewing experience compared to LCD, making it ideal for modern smartphones that are increasingly used for video streaming, gaming, and other high-definition content.
Apple first integrated OLED screens into its lineup with the iPhone X in 2017. Since then, it has gradually replaced LCD displays across its product range, leading to a sharp decline in demand for LCD panels. By 2023, JDI and Sharp were shipping only around 20 million LCD screens for the iPhone annually—a far cry from the 200 million units they supplied at their peak in 2015.
This shift is part of a broader trend in the smartphone industry. British research firm Omdia projects that OLED displays will surpass LCD panels in total shipments for smartphones this year. As Apple begins integrating OLED screens into other products like the iPad, the company is expected to continue reducing its reliance on LCD technology.
For JDI and Sharp, the decline in Apple’s demand for LCD panels has led to surplus production capacity. JDI, which once derived 60% of its revenue from Apple’s LCD orders, has posted annual net losses for a decade, with its fortunes only starting to turn around recently. Though JDI is working on energy-efficient OLED panels, its production remains focused on smaller displays, such as those used in the Apple Watch. The company’s primary business now revolves around supplying LCD panels for automotive display systems.
Sharp, facing similar challenges, has begun scaling back its LCD operations. In August, the company shut down its Sakai plant in Osaka, which produced large LCD screens for televisions, and reduced production at another facility in Mie Prefecture. The rise of OLED has forced these Japanese firms to pivot, but whether they can thrive in a post-LCD world remains uncertain.
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