Apple could reportedly purchase organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels from Samsung for its next iPhone. One report shows that Samsung Display has made a deal to supply 100 million 5-inch OLED screens to Apple each year and possibly for multiple years. The deal would be worth $2.6 billion and production would start in Q2 of 2017, but Apple is reportedly not willing to sign a three-year deal with the South Korean conglomerate.

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It seems the display panels would be included with the 2017 iPhone Plus units, according to GSMArena. Based on the timing of the order they will likely be included in the iPhone 7s.

The Apple-Samsung deal was reported in the Chinese edition of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). While rumors of future Apple phones using Samsung's OLED panels already existed, it was believed the handsets would roll out in 2018 instead of next year.  

KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported the same news and also that the 2017 iPhone Plus will feature a 5.8-inch display screen.

Samsung's A3 plant is located in Asan and recently received an $8.7 billion investment. The Apple deal would boost its A3 production line from 15,000 panels to 30,000 sheets a month, according to Android Authority.   

It is unclear why Apple is deciding to use OLED screens for its smartphones. It could be related to the production cost being lower than for LCDs.

In addition, it remains to be seen if Apple would request LG to produce OLED panels as a backup plan. The company has been an important partner for Apple to make iPhone panels.

Samsung has been supplying memory chips for Apple's smartphones for several years. However, it did not land the deal to manufacture the A10 chip for the iPhone 7.

The company has also sold display panels to competing smartphone makers in the past. Its dual edge AMOLED display is featured in the Galaxy S7 Edge flagship but has also shown up in some other rival companies' handsets.

Here's how OLED displays work: