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cailianshe news, september 3 (editor: xia junxiong)according to media reports citing sources, apple will completely abandon the use of lcd (liquid crystal display) screens in the iphone, and all iphones sold next year and beyond will use oled (organic light-emitting diode) displays.

apple first used oled displays on the iphone x in 2017. since then, apple has popularized oled displays in mid-to-high-end models, but the iphone se series is still using lcd screens.

however, iphones with lcd screens are about to become history. people familiar with the matter said that apple has begun ordering oled displays for the next-generation iphone se from boe and lg.

samsung currently accounts for about half of the iphone oled display market, lg accounts for about 30%, and boe accounts for about 20%.

sharp and japan display (jdi) previously supplied lcd screens to apple, and neither company mass-produced oled displays for smartphones.

this means that after the old iphone se is discontinued, sharp and jdi will be excluded from the iphone supply chain business. about 10 years ago, the two companies together accounted for 70% of the iphone display market. around 2015, jdi and sharp delivered nearly 200 million lcd screens for the iphone each year, but by 2023, this number has dropped to around 20 million.

as oled displays become more common in ipads and other products, apple is expected to further reduce its purchases of lcd screens.

jdi, which once relied on apple for 60% of its revenue, has been stuck in overcapacity as apple began to move away from lcd screens. as of march this year, jdi has recorded net losses for 10 consecutive years.

although jdi is also developing oled, it currently only supplies small oled displays for devices such as the apple watch. the company is currently focusing on adjusting its business strategy around lcd for automotive applications.

sharp is scaling back its lcd business, shutting its sakai plant in osaka in august, which makes large lcds for tvs, and cutting production at its kameyama plant in mie prefecture.