South Korean display manufacturers Samsung Display and LG Display will likely be display suppliers for California-based Apple’s next-generation smart watch, according to news reports Thursday.

LG Display has been a sole supplier of the organic light-emitting diode display fitted in the Apple Watch, which was released in April. But Apple, the maker of the iPhones, has reportedly decided to add Samsung Display as another vendor for the OLED parts.

Apple usually contracts two or three vendors of electronics parts for its products to keep rivals price-competitive and to secure a stable supply.

The U.S. firm has recently started to work with the Korean firms to develop flexible OLED displays for the next-gen smart watch, which is expected to be lighter and slimmer than the first Apple Watch.

“The two-track strategy of Apple is not surprising at all if you consider that Samsung Display and LG Display are the only manufacturers that roll out flexible OLED displays,” Lee Choong-hoon, president of market research firm UBI research, was quoted as saying by a Korean news outlet.

The U.S. firm’s Apple Watch that comes with a variety of different straps and colors received a great deal of attention since its launch.

The Apple Watch frenzy, however, has recently died down with some reports that the sales record of the smart watch would be somewhat disappointing.

It was estimated that around 2.79 million units of the watch were sold from April to mid-June, and market research firm Pacific Crest forecast the annual sales of the wearable device would stand at 10.5 million, down from an initial estimation of 11 million.

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)