LG Display has scored a 5-year, billion dollar contract to supply display screens to Apple. As part of the deal LG will get a $714 Million dollar advance from Apple this month.
The contract, which will be worth billions over the 5 years, was disclosed this morning to the Korean Stock Exchange.
Reuters reported, “Although LG Display already had a relationship with Apple, the deal’s duration and the size of the advance show that the two companies are involved in a long-term, strategic alliance,” said Son Young-jun, a spokesman for LG Display.
Shares in LG Display were up 3.37 percent at 24,550 won at 0034 GMT, outperforming the wider market’s 1.17 percent drop, but analysts were quick to discount the impact of the announcement.
“LG Display’s panels already represent more than 70 percent of Apple’s notebooks and monitors,” said Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.
“The share performance may be due to the fact that the decline in panel prices is not expected to continue,” Park said, referring to the steep price drops the LCD industry has experienced this year in the wake of the global slowdown and an industry oversupply.