A DigiTimes report is claiming that Apple has rejected Samsung as a supplier of displays for the Apple Watch, and that all of them will be made by LG. The company had been expected to split display production between the two companies, and the usual caution needs to be applied to DigiTimes stories, which rely on anonymous supply-chain sources. The report claims Apple is hoping to sell upwards of 50 million smartwatches in 2015. Analyst estimates for sales of the Apple Watch range from 10M to 37M.
LG Display will supply Apple AMOLED panels for the Apple Watch, with shipments expected to reach about five million a month in 2015, according to sources at LG Display. Apple will receive about five million AMOLED panels for the device a month throughout 2015, with the Apple Watch expected to be released within the first quarter. The sources said Apple aims to sell upwards of 50 million Apple Watches in 2015. Apple will reportedly not purchase AMOLED panels from Samsung Display and instead will have LG as the sole panel provider for the Apple Watch, the sources indicated. Market observers meanwhile noted that adopting AMOLED panel technology for use in wearables such as the Apple Watch makes sense due to the technology’s flexibility and energy-saving advantages but does not necessarily indicate that Apple will consider it for other devices such as the iPhone and iPad in the future as some analysts have speculated.
