Chinese display maker, BOE, has been doing all it can to enter into Apple’s supply chain. Presently, only LG Display and Samsung supplies OLED displays for the iPhone 12 series. However, there were reports that BOE may join the supply chain for replacement units. Nevertheless, this can not happen considering the latest report. According to TheLec, Chinese display manufacturer, BOE, has once again failed to obtain an iPhone 12 OLED panel supply order from Apple.
According to reports, BOE’s plant in Chengdu, Sichuan Province is still facing production problems. This is one of the reasons why the company failed to get Apple’s validation. This is the second time this year that BOE will be failing Apple’s validation.
Gizchina News of the week
BOE’s factory in Mianyang also suffered the same fate in June this year, because the yield rate was as low as about 20%. According to the report, Apple’s review of Chengdu began in September, but only lasted a month, and ended in failure in October. BOE must now wait until the first half of 2021 to retry to reach a supply agreement.
BOE will not know the results of the third review until May to June next year. If it does pass, the panel it provides will be used in the refurbishing iPhone 12 models.
BOE’s B11 and B7 manufacturing lines will compete with each other
After its initial failure, there were reports that BOE will try to simultaneously authenticate with B11 and B7 lines in the second half of this year. The B7 has been supplying panels mainly to Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei. However, with the increasing ban on Huawei by the U.S., BOE certainly needs new customers.
BOE’s B11 and B7 lines will compete with each other. The nationality and personal composition of the two factories are also different. The president of the B11 plant is Taiwanese while the president of the B7 plant is Chinese. In its earnings release last month, BOE said that B11 produced 4 million of the 16 million flexible OLED shipments in the first half of the year.
Apple is giving LG Display and BOE a chance to lower its dependence on Samsung Display in the iPhone OLED panel. When BOE supplies OLED panels to Apple, the number of partners increases to three, and Apple can lower the cost of parts. However, it appears that this can not happen anytime soon. Of we must see an iPhone with a BOE display, it can happen in Q4 2021 at the earliest.
