Benefits from iPhone 8
While Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 8 in honor of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first iPhone, the Korean IT and electronics companies that supply parts for the iPhone 8 will also enjoy the benefits of the launch.
According to the electronics industry and securities firms on August 7, the iPhone 8 is expected to become a work of encouragement, including a flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel and augmented reality (AR)
"With the launch of the iPhone 8 as momentum, global IT companies such as Apple and Samsung are expected to begin full-fledged competition to differentiate themselves by improving hardware performance," said Kim Dong-won, a researcher at KB Securities.
The securities and electronics industries are predicting that Samsung Electronics, LG Innotek, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung SDI among others are expected to benefit from strong sales of the iPhone while supplying major parts for the iPhone 8.
It is known that although Samsung Electronics is a competitor of Apple in the smartphone market, Samsung Electronics supply DRAMs and NAND flashes to Apple as Samsung Electronics is the number one memory semiconductor maker in the world.
An OLED panel which is first adopted for the iPhone is also known to be a Samsung Display product. Samsung Display occupies more than 95% of the market of small and medium-sized OLED panels used in smartphones as a virtual monopoly.
LG Innotek has been supplying dual cameras to Apple. The industry is anticipating that LG Innotek's dual cameras will be loaded into the iPhone 8 as well. The company will also supply some smartphone substrates to Apple. Apart from them, the industry forecasts that LG Innotek's '3D sensing modules' will be used in the iPhone 8. A 3D sensing module is a camera that recognizes the depth and movement of a subject, and is a necessary part in realizing an AR function.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been supplying components such as semiconductor package substrates and MLCCs (multilayer ceramic capacitors). This time, the company is expected to supply RF PCBs. This substrate is a combination of a rigid substrate and a bendable substrate as the name implies. It is said that when Samsung Electro-Mechanics supplies the part to Samsung Display, Samsung Display completes OLED panels and supplies them to Apple. Samsung Electro-Mechanics said that the company was mass-producing RFPCBs for OLED" at a conference call for an announcement of second-quarter results at the end of last month.
Samsung SDI is also known in the industry to supply green phosphorescent materials, one of the OLED materials, for the iPhone 8. A display mixes the three primary colors of light -- red, green, and blue -- to represent color and Samsung SDI provides phosphorescence that emits green light. It is also said that Samsung SDI supplies small batteries for the iPhone 8.