iWatch Rumors: LG Nearing Deal To Supply Flexible OLED Screens For Apple’s Smart Watch

Barely a day after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook’s remark that the company is likely to introduce new product categories in 2014, a new report has claimed that the long-rumored iWatch could feature flexible OLED screens made by LG Display (NYSE:LPL) as both companies are closing in on a deal related to the product.

“LG Display has been in talks over flexible organic light-emitting diode panels for quite a while and it looks like it will be sealing the deal with Apple,” an anonymous source told The Korea Herald on Tuesday, adding that Samsung (KRX:005935) would not be a part of the project.

The report said that LG, which supplies Apple with LCD panels for the iPad, MacBook and iMac product lineups, would not be the sole supplier for Apple's smart watch displays as Taiwan’s RiTDisplay is also rumored to be a major contender to become a supplier of the device’s screens.

“Instead of relying on one supplier for its iWatch, which will be unveiled next year, Apple will have two vendors to be safe. The key provider will be RiTDisplay and LG Display will be the second,” The Korea Herald quoted Kim Young-woo, an analyst at Seoul-based HMC Investment Securities, as saying. “Japan Display might also be a candidate, but so far its capacity seems lacking.”

According to the report, Apple recently visited Samsung to discuss the display production of the iWatch, but the discussions fell through, according to sources, because the South Korean tech giant is currently marketing its own Galaxy Gear smart watch and Apple would not want to disclose its iWatch plans to its closest rival.

Earlier this month, Korea’s ETNews released a report saying Apple would integrate flexible OLED displays into more of its products, including the iWatch. The report also said that Apple would increase its reliance on both LG and Samsung for screen manufacturing, but that it would continue to use displays from Japan Display.

In August, DigiTimes reported, citing Wanli Wang, an analyst at CIMB Group, that Apple would release the iWatch with a price tag between $149 and $229 in the second half of 2014.