Apple has to pay Samsung for every iPhone Duo it sells under exclusive display deal

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) reportedly has to pay Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) $250 for every main folding panel fitted inside the iPhone Duo.

Leaker Instant Digital said on Chinese social network Weibo that the supply contract lasts three years. It covers the current Duo and the models Apple releases during that period. Samsung was already in possession of the exclusive screen contract because it was reported that Apple could not find any other manufacturer capable of giving the desired screen.

Apple is now bound to its main competitor in the phone-making industry for the expensive component. LG Display (NYSE: LPL), an important screen supplier for Apple, is not capable of manufacturing the flexible screen.

BOE Technology Group (SZSE: 000725) already sells folding panels to Huawei, but Apple reportedly decided BOE’s version was not good enough for its phone. Samsung was therefore left as the only supplier that met the requirements.

Samsung secures three years of Apple orders as each inner panel costs $250

The display of the Duo is more difficult to produce as compared to the display that is present within the iPhone 18 Pro Max. The production process is quite complex for this reason, and hence, this increases the cost of the display even before it reaches the final assembling stage.

The cost of $250 does not include all the expenses incurred by Apple on the screen itself. The cost does not cover the expense of assembling and testing as well.

It is only relevant for the folding display within the phone, but there is no mention of the cover display without the phone. There is no combined cost mentioned for the two screens as well.

Apple designed the Duo like a book. Users get an outer screen when the phone is closed and a larger flexible panel after opening it.

The device is Apple’s first foldable and is planned to start at $1,999 this year. The inner panel was built around higher brightness, longer usable life, and a crease designed to be barely visible. Samsung supplies that key screen.

Samsung wasted little time taking shots at Apple after the launch. One social post said, “so far, so same.” Another went harder: “Let us know when you’re done reheating our leftovers.”

Samsung has been selling foldable phones since 2019 and has regularly used Apple and the iPhone as targets in ads about design choices and features.

Samsung hires another Tim Cook to put the Galaxy Z Fold8 against Apple’s Duo

Samsung New Zealand then turned the rivalry into an ad built around a name. It hired a real estate agent named Tim Cook, not the Tim who recently served as Apple’s CEO.

The other Tim works with Harcourts in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and appeared in a short campaign for Samsung’s latest foldable.

The clip introduces Tim with the line, “Tim Cook has an announcement. And for once, it’s about Galaxy,” before putting the Galaxy Z Fold8 in his hands. The joke gives Samsung a Tim of its own while the company promotes a phone competing directly with Apple’s new foldable.

The Galaxy Z Fold8 arrived in July with a 5.5-inch cover screen, a 7.6-inch inner display and a body weighing 201 grams. Samsung describes it as its lightest Fold model so far. The iPhone Duo also carries a 7.6-inch internal display, but it weighs 254 grams.

Both use the same book-style format, putting the two phones in direct competition as Apple enters a market Samsung has been serving for years.

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