In June, The Elec reported that Samsung was still mulling over plans to upgrade their OLED equipment that will be used for future iPads. The report revealed that Samsung and Japan’s Ulvac would begin negotiations for Gen 8.5 OLED deposition equipment. Then in late September, The Elec posted a follow-up report claiming that Samsung would be supplying Apple with next-gen OLED Displays for a future iPad using a new manufacturing process using equipment from Japan's Ulvac.

With Samsung teetering between two different types of manufacturing equipment, Samsung has finally decided to postpone investments into full-cut, vertical deposition method it had been co-developing for over a year with Japan’s Ulvac. Instead, Samsung will change course and invest in half-cut, horizontal deposition method it had been developing Canon Tokki. This is because the latter method has already been commercialized and is being developed with the aim to supply OLED panels for tablets to Apple.

So why the switch in equipment? Samsung was developing a single-stack OLED panel with Ulvac technology. Yet Apple had demanded that they wanted a two-stack OLED design. Back in mid-March, Patently Apple reported that both LG and BOE were developing a two-stack display aimed at winning orders for Apple's 2024 iPad.

With the economic downturn taking hold around the globe and competitors LG and BOE focused on delivering what Apple has been demanding for their 2024 iPad, it appears that Samsung has decided to leap to a two-stack OLED design using equipment from Canon Tokki, ahead of its original schedule, so as to be able to retain Apple's future iPad business.

Of course it's always possible that The Elec never quite got the story right on this all year.