Samsung Elec to slash OLED panel production as iPhone X demand disappoints - Nikkei (updated)

Hodogaya Chemical

20/02/2018 05:20

* Samsung to make panels for 20 mln iPhones in Jan-March 
-Nikkei 
    * Initial goal was to make panels for 45 mln-50 mln 
iPhones-Nikkei 
    * Further production cutback possible - Nikkei 
 
 (Adds Samsung Display declines to comment) 
    TOKYO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co  005930.KS  
will slash output of its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) 
panels in response to its customer Apple Inc's  AAPL.O  decision 
to cut production of iPhone X amid weak demand, the Nikkei 
reported on Tuesday. 
    Samsung Display, the panel-making unit of Samsung 
Electronics, now plans to make OLED panels for 20 million or 
fewer iPhones at the South Chungcheong plant in the 
January-March quarter, significantly lower than its initial goal 
of supplying panels for 45 million to 50 million iPhones, the 
Nikkei reported. 
    Samsung Electronics stock fell as much as 2.3 percent in 
morning trade, while shares of Japanese OLED component makers, 
such as Hodogaya Chemical Co  4112.T  and Hirata Corp  6258.T , 
also declined.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1QA0CO 
    Samsung Display has yet to set a production target for the 
April-June period, but a further cutback is possible, the Nikkei 
reported, without citing sources. 
    A spokesman for Samsung Display declined to comment. 
    Apple will halve its iPhone X production target for the 
first three months of the year to around 20 million units, the 
Nikkei reported last month, adding to growing concerns about 
weak sales of the $999 phone. 
    The iPhone X was the first phone to get a major design 
overhaul since the launch of the iPhone 6 in 2015, and many 
expected it to lead to blockbuster sales. 
 
 (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi in Tokyo; Additional reporting 
by Ju-Min Park in Seoul; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) 
 ((mailto:minami.funakoshi@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-6441-1386; 
Reuters Messaging: minami.funakoshi.reuters.com@reuters.net, 
twitter.com/MinamiFunakoshi)) 
 
Keywords: SAMSUNG ELEC OLED/