Every time the 'iPhone 12' sells, Japan cries and Korea smiles?..."The gap between Korea and Japan has widened"

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini.
[Image source = Provided by Apple]
[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Among the components of Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 12, parts from Korea are known to have the largest share. Japan, which is losing ground in the parts competition, expressed concern that "the gap with Japan has widened even more compared to the iPhone 11."

According to reports from Japanese foreign media on the 21st, the manufacturing cost of the iPhone 12 is estimated at $373 (approximately 416,640 KRW), with Korean parts accounting for 27.3%, the largest share.

This is 9.1 percentage points higher compared to the iPhone 11 released last year. During the same period, the share of American parts fell by 0.2 percentage points to 25.6%, and the share of Japanese parts dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 13.2%. Chinese parts accounted for 4.7%.

The increased dependence on Korean parts in the iPhone 12 was largely influenced by the display. Apple decided to use an organic light-emitting diode panel (OLED) for the iPhone 12 display, which shows images more clearly, and adopted Samsung Electronics' products.

The price of Samsung Display's OLED used in the iPhone 12 is estimated at $70 per panel, and the flash memory supplied by Samsung Electronics is estimated at $19.2. The DRAM supplied by SK Hynix is estimated to be around $12.8.

As a result, Japan Display Inc. (JDI), a Japanese company that had supplied LCD (liquid crystal display) panels to Apple, saw its parts contribution become 'zero (0)' after the iPhone 12 series switched to OLED.

Japanese foreign media reported, "Korea's status in Apple smartphone parts is rising, and the gap with Japan is widening," adding, "The areas where Japan has strengths are becoming increasingly limited."

They also evaluated, "Japanese companies such as Sony and Panasonic led OLED development, but they could not keep up in the subsequent investment competition, making it a Korean companies' exclusive domain."