iPad Pro
AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site.
Samsung Display is seeking to invest another $3.1 billion into its OLED display panel production, an investment that is likely to help its manufacturing for the Apple supply chain.
Samsung Display is a major supplier to Apple, creating screens for both the iPhone and iPad lines. To help bolster its capabilities in production, the company intends to throw billions of dollars at its Asan, South Korea facility.
The investment will cost Samsung some 4.1 trillion won ($3.14 billion) until 2026, according to the country's trade ministry on Tuesday, reports Reuters.
The Asan facility investment will go towards making advanced OLED display panels, used in tablets and computers, the ministry said. While not specifically named, this would mean Apple's future iPad could benefit.
Various supply chain reports claim that an iPad Pro model due in 2024 with an OLED screen could be a more costly to produce iteration. It is thought that an 11-inch iPad Pro with an OLED display could be 80% more expensive than the current generation, with a $1,500 starting price.
The iPad Pro may not be the only Apple product to benefit from the investment. According to DSCC's Ross Young, the fab is for 14-inch and 16-inch OLED MacBook Pros, destined for a 2026 release.
There is apparently a lot of technical risk involved, Ross claims, with a "new backplane approach and frontplane approach" intended to lower costs and improve performance.
Samsung's investment is part of a wider previously-announced scheme from Samsung Electronics, which will see its companies invest 60.1 trillion won into regions outside of Seoul over the next ten years.
