New Delhi: Apple is reportedly asking Samsung Display and LG Display to significantly reduce the cost of OLED panels for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro Max, even as display technology becomes more advanced. According to a report by The Elec, Apple wants to pay around $70 per display, nearly 20 per cent less than the price it reportedly paid for the iPhone 17 Pro Max panels.
This action is part of Apple’s effort to try to meet the increased costs of components without making the purchases too expensive. Smartphone manufacturers have seen prices for their memory chip rise, too, making it more costly to manufacture. Rather than accept higher overall manufacturing costs, Apple seems to be making greater efforts to negotiate with suppliers to help ensure its margins and maintain future iPhone pricing competitiveness.
The reported demand is unusual, as the iPhone 18 Pro Max is likely to use Samsung’s M16 OLED material set, which offers improved power efficiency, longer lifetimes, more accurate colours and better brightness. New display materials usually need production changes in early use and yield fewer items than before, causing them to be more expensive than inexpensive.
The Elec reports that Apple has reportedly cut the price of the iPhone 17 Pro Max down to approximately $80 from reports of paying more than $100 for the OLED panels of the iPhone 16 Pro Max. As part of the latest proposal, it includes a significantly bigger year-on-year price reduction than is typical in the industry.
Samsung Display President Lee Cheong recently confessed that suppliers are under great pressure to reduce the price of components under ‘chipflation’. LG Display President Jeong Cheol-dong also admitted there is pricing pressure but that the company has been able to deal with it due to its ongoing cost-efficiency efforts.
If Apple is successful, it could bolster its negotiating hand throughout the supply chain. But, if the price is pushed too far down and next-generation technology is demanded, supplier margins will be reduced and the issue of innovation versus increasing production costs will become a bigger problem. Despite the negotiations, both Samsung Display and LG Display are still expected to remain key suppliers for the iPhone 18 lineup.
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Pragya is a Science and Technology reporter, has Master degree in Journalism, covering a range of stories including space, gadgets and how tech is transforming our lives. She has 4+ years of industry experience in Digital Media and Content Writing. 15+ years of practice in yoga philosophy to every day, and that’s one way she strive to build meaningful experiences.