Samsung Display, the panel-making unit of Samsung Electronics, now plans to make OLED panels for 20 million or fewer iPhones at the South Chungcheong plant in the January-March quarter, significantly lower than its initial goal of supplying panels for 45 million to 50 million iPhones, the Nikkei reported.

Samsung Display has yet to set a production target for the April-June period, but a further cutback is possible, particularly as Apple's gamble to charge more for its iPhone failed to attract the interest of any but the most fanatic fanboys.

Apple will halve its iPhone X production target for the first three months of the year to around 20 million units, the Nikkei reported last month, adding to growing concerns about weak sales of the $999 phone.

The iPhone X was the first phone to get a major design overhaul since the launch of the iPhone 6 in 2015, and many expected it to lead to blockbuster sales. It seems that it was not different enough from earlier iPhones to merit the upgrade.

It looks like Samsung will join the long line of suppliers who assumed that a deal with Jobs' Mob would be a golden ticket to profits only to find that when things go wrong they go very very wrong.