Samsung Display OLED shipments falls by 9% due to low Apple iPhone 12 mini sales

Samsung Display‘s shipment of OLED (organic light emitting diode) panels has fallen by 9 percent in January 2021, over the previous month, reaching 45 million units in sales as per a new report.

The primary reason for the decline in sales is apparently due to the lackluster sales of the iPhone 12 mini from Apple, as per TheElec report. Last year, the Cupertino based giant launched four models in its iPhone 12 series. While the lineup overall saw great success across the globe with higher than expected sales thanks to its 5G support, the lowest end entry model saw lackluster demand. The sales of the 5.4 inch iPhone 12 mini was lower than what the company had anticipated.

Notably, the South Korean display maker is the sole supplier for the OLEDs on the Mini variant of the iPhone 12. The first quarter of a year is usually known to be an off season for smartphone sales, although, Samsung Display’s OLED display supply to Chinese companies remained strong in the same month. These ‘rigid’ OLED panels use glass substrates and are relatively cheaper than flexible OLED panels that use plastic (polyimide), which are found in flagship handsets like the iPhone and Galaxy S21 lineup.

The global shipments of OLED panels reached 53 million units, marking a decline of 9 percent. Out of this figure, Samsung Display accounted for 45 million units or about 85 percent of the total. On the other hand, LG Display shipped 6 million units in January 2021. In terms of rankings, Samsung Display arrived first, followed by BOE and Tianma as second and third respectively. Gizmo China