According to ET News, Apple has been purchasing a number of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machines from Korea-based Sunic Systems. This indicates that the company is investing to manufacture its own OLED panel to presumably lessen its dependence on Samsung.

This move would be a groundbreaking supply change for Apple, that has never been able to manufacture display panels for any of its devices. However, it’s worth noting that CVD machinery can also be used for other fabrication purposes, such integrated circuits and photovoltaic components.

Historically, Apple used LCD panels for its flagship device, but the coming iPhone 8 is all but confirmed to be the company’s first OLED smartphone. Samsung is currently poised to be the sole supplier of OLED panels for this year’s flagship iPhone, with roughly 160 million panels. Apple is apparently looking to change that, however, as the company is coaxing LG into producing OLED panels in 2018.

However, the change isn’t likely to take place anytime soon, since setting up OLED supply lines doesn’t happen overnight. It is also too close to the iPhone 8’s announcement for Apple to produce enough OLED panels for that specific model. The CVD machines are most likely meant for future production.

Source: iDROPNEWS

Image: Extreme Tech