Samsung, LG to benefit from iPhone 8
The launch of the long-awaited iPhone 8 Wednesday will be a blessing for its major exclusive components suppliers from Samsung and LG, according to experts.
Expectations for the new Apple handset, set to debut on Sept. 12, are unprecedentedly high, as it marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.
The world’s largest company by market capitalization has yet to confirm details for the device’s specifications, but it is expected to come with a series of high-end features. They include a dual-lens camera, organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) display and the latest A11 application processor.
Even if critics here and abroad say Apple has in recent years lost its “innovative spirit” for its iPhone, sales of the iPhone 6S proved its leading status in the global smartphone industry. The model topped the list of 2016 smartphone shipments, beating its competitors — including Samsung Electronics — by a huge margin.
On sales volume for one model, not one handset manufacturer in the world has yet to beat Apple’s iPhone series due to its unmatched brand identity and security-featured iOS operating system.
The success of the iPhone series, however, also comes as a boon for Apple’s major handset rivals — Samsung and LG.
Samsung Electronics is particularly in a love-and-hate relationship with Apple which is one of its biggest customers in memory chips and various other major components used for iPhones.
For this reason, Samsung Electronics shares have shown upward momentum each year around September when Apple launches its flagship devices.
The stock price of the Seoul-based tech titan has continued to go up to close at 2.454 million won ($2,169.76) on the Seoul bourse, Friday, up from 2.295 million won on Aug. 8, amid expectations for the releases of the Galaxy Note 8 and the upcoming iPhone.
Samsung Display, however, is expected to become the biggest beneficiary of the iPhone 8 as a dominant organic light-emitting-diode (OLED) panel supplier for the new device. The display manufacturing affiliate of Samsung has more than a 98 percent market share for the smartphone OLED industry.