Inside Apple's Secret Plan to Develop and Build its Own Screens - Bloomberg

Controlling MicroLED technology would help Apple stand out in a maturing smartphone market and outgun rivals like Samsung that have been able to tout superior screens. Ray Soneira, who runs screen tester DisplayMate Technologies, says bringing the design in-house is a “golden opportunity” for Apple. “Everyone can buy an OLED or LCD screen,” he says. “But Apple could own MicroLED.”

This would just be another step in Apple taking control of their own destiny and it’s probably a good thing for them. The iPhone X was expensive and available in smaller supply than the normal iPhone launch in no small part because of the availability and pricing of OLED panels. Panels largely (entirely?) bought from Samsung. Apple started to pull away from the pack after taking control over their processors with the A/M/S/W lines of chips.

This will surely need some ramp up and we’ll see the full ramifications on this in a few years, but I’d be concerned if I were Samsung. Apple is a major buyer of Samsung screens today, and losing Apple as a customer isn’t good for anyone, even someone as powerful as Samsung.