Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KRX:005930) is the latest Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier to offer a sign of weaker iPhone X sales, saying that it’s seeing slow demand for the screens used in the iPhone X.
Samsung posted record first-quarter profits on Thursday but warned about a deceleration in its display panel segment.
"Generating overall earnings growth across the company will be a challenge due to weakness in the display panel segment and a decline in profitability in the mobile business amid rising competition in the high-end segment," Samsung said in a statement.
The bad news for Apple is piling up as CNBC reported that Samsung’s weak prognosis for the iPhone X came after key iPhone supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. (NYSE:TSM) warned about slower growth in smartphone chip sales.
Apple’s iPhone X boasts organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens touted as the future of smartphones because they’re crisper and easier on batteries than their than their liquid-crystal predecessors.
Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers had said in a note to clients that Apple was likely to expand OLED to “additional models.”
Read: Apple will probably post 'in-line numbers' in 2Q on lukewarm demand, analyst says
Separately, Fast Company reported that Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) was to remain Apple’s iPhone modem supplier in 2018, but will see orders reduced to 30%.
Apple and longtime partner Qualcomm are caught in a bitter legal battle, but Apple is reluctant to ditch the supplier on those merits alone. Rumors had suggested that Apple is planning to remove Qualcomm from its iPhone supply chain in favor of industry rival Intel this year.
Citing sources familiar with Apple's plans, Fast Company reported that Apple is tapping Intel to supply 70% of LTE modems for iPhone models set for release this fall, with Qualcomm picking up the remaining 30%.