Apple’s iPhone 17 Boost Expected to Lift Korean Display Makers’ Earnings

 

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major display manufacturers are expected to post sharply improved earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025, buoyed by strong demand from Apple’s latest iPhone lineup, as the technology sector enters a closely watched earnings season.

Samsung Display and LG Display are scheduled to report their quarterly and full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting a notable rebound driven largely by orders linked to Apple’s iPhone 17 series, released last September.

Securities firms estimate Samsung Display’s fourth-quarter revenue at between 8 trillion and 9 trillion won ($5.9 billion to $6.6 billion), with operating profit approaching 2 trillion won.

If realized, that would more than double the company’s earnings from the same period a year earlier and place full-year operating profit near 4 trillion won, providing significant support to parent company Samsung Electronics.

LG Display is also expected to remain profitable for a second consecutive quarter, positioning the panel maker for its first full-year profit in four years. Analysts project fourth-quarter revenue of roughly 7 trillion to 7.6 trillion won, with operating profit of about 300 billion won. Annual operating profit is forecast to reach the mid-600 billion won range.

Much of the improvement stems from surging shipments of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for smartphones. LG Display’s mobile display revenue is estimated to have climbed to between 3.2 trillion and 3.6 trillion won in the fourth quarter, up sharply from the previous quarter and accounting for nearly half of its total sales.

The display industry typically experiences stronger results in the second half of the year, reflecting Apple’s annual iPhone launch cycle. This year’s pattern appears intact, with OLED panel deliveries for the iPhone 17 lineup playing a decisive role.

Samsung Display supplies OLED panels across Apple’s entire iPhone 17 range, including the standard, Pro and Pro Max models, as well as the newly introduced iPhone Air. Strong sales of Samsung Electronics’ own Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 7 models are also believed to have supported earnings.

LG Display, whose smartphone OLED business is almost exclusively tied to Apple, provides panels for three iPhone 17 models, including the Air, standard and Pro Max versions.

While both companies are working to diversify into automotive displays and IT devices such as laptops and tablets, industry officials say Apple remains the dominant driver of fourth-quarter performance.

That reliance is expected to continue into 2026. Samsung Display recently held a ceremony marking the first paid sample shipment from its new 8.6-generation OLED production line, widely believed to be linked to Apple’s first OLED-based MacBook, which could enter mass production later this year.

LG Display, meanwhile, is strengthening its position as Apple’s sole supplier of display panels for the Apple Watch while continuing to provide panels for MacBooks and iPads.

Still, risks remain. Rising memory chip prices have increased cost pressures on device makers, raising concerns that price negotiations could shift some of the burden to component suppliers.

“Higher memory prices inevitably weigh on set makers, and that pressure can extend to parts suppliers,” Lee Cheong, chief executive of Samsung Display, said earlier this month at CES 2026 in Las Vegas. “Customers are increasingly cautious about cost management and pricing strategies.”

Despite those uncertainties, analysts say the momentum from Apple-related demand is likely to underpin display makers’ earnings in the near term, reinforcing the industry’s recovery after several years of volatility.

Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)