According to a new report out of Korea, Chinese panel maker BOE isn’t supplying Apple with screens for the iPhone 17 Pro. BOE has allegedly been experiencing product reliability issues, which it cannot resolve by the end of the year.
Apple iPhone 17 Pro
Thus, Apple has shifted the order that was supposed to go to BOE to Samsung Display. BOE had entered the supply chain for the iPhone 17 Pro models sold in the Chinese market, and up to 10 million panels were going to be supplied.
Since BOE hasn’t been able to fix the problems it’s been having with those panels, the “industry consensus” is that it’s failed at actually becoming a supplier for Apple this time around. As a result, Samsung Display will increase its supply of OLED panels to Apple from the initially arranged 80 million units to 90 million.
Thus, when we factor in the other iPhone models that BOE is a supplier for, the Chinese company won’t be able to make its 40 million target this year. BOE’s issues apparently stem from the fact that Apple wants LTPO panels for the iPhone 17 Pro, and apparently those have been difficult for BOE to make to Apple’s standards.
Recently, Samsung settled a patent dispute with BOE with regard to OLED panel infringement, and BOE is going to pay Samsung royalties to use its intellectual property.
Source (in Korean)
