Samsung to stop providing LCDs to Apple

Samsung Display says it will stop providing Apple with liquid crystal display (LCD) panels from next year as orders from the U.S. company have been falling.

Citing an anonymous source from Samsung, the Korea Times reported Monday the Korean company wil be unable to supply its flat screens to Apple at a huge price discount. Samsung had been scaling down its shipments to Apple and will stop delivering displays to the iPhone maker next year, the source said. The display manufacturer is a spinoff from from Samsung Electronics.

The report cited research firm DisplaySearch, which said Samsung Display was the top supplier to Apple during the first half of 2012 with over 15 million LCDs shipped. LG Display shipped 12.5 million during the same period, followed by Japan's Sharp at 2.8 million units.

Quoting the source, the Korea Times said Samsung shipped less than 3 million units to Apple in the third quarter of this year and expects its fourth quarter shipment to fall to around 1.5 million. 

Although Samsung Display will lose Apple as a customer, various unnamed sources told the Korean newspaper that increasing demand from Amazon and Samsung Electronics will make up for the loss.

Samsung does not provide panels for the yet-to-be officially announced smaller Apple tablet, the report added.

Once close partners in display and components, both companies have been embroiled in court battles over patents involving smartphone and tablets. Apple came out of the patent battle in the U.S. the winner but lost to Samsung in Japan as well as the United Kingdom.

Samsung's popular S3 smartphone has emerged as one of Apple's most serious challengers.

Apple also has been weaning itself off Samsung in memory chip supply by ordering from SK Hynix, according to a report released September. The U.S. company has been sourcing from other display companies for more competitively priced screens. Last year, it also purchased an Israeli flash memory startup last year.