Chinese firm BOE poised to help Apple reduce its reliance on rival Samsung’s screens, starting with next iPhone
- Apple has tapped Beijing-based BOE to manufacture most displays for the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, according to Apple supply chain analyst Kuo Ming-chi
- BOE’s rise could heat up competition in the global display market, where Samsung is currently a leader
Apple has tapped BOE to manufacture most displays for the next-generation entry-level iPhones, expected to be launched in the latter half of 2023, Kuo wrote in his blog on Wednesday. “If things go smoothly over the next few months, BOE will become the largest display supplier for the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, with a market share of around 70 per cent (compared to Samsung’s 30 per cent),” he said.
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From next year, BOE is expected to start shipping low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) displays – a type of advanced screens used on higher-end Apple handsets such as the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, according to Kuo.
If BOE could secure between 20 to 30 per cent of LTPO iPhone display orders from Apple in the second half of 2024, it would beat Samsung to become Apple’s biggest supplier of screens for the latest iPhones, he said.
BOE declined to comment on specific business deals. Neither Samsung nor Apple responded to a request for comment on Friday.
Beijing-based BOE traces its history back to the early 1950s, when the Soviet Union helped China build the country’s first electron tube factory. Today, the Beijing municipal government’s asset management vehicle remains BOE’s largest shareholder with a 10.64 per cent equity stake.
BOE began to make displays for the iPhone 12 in 2020. In 2021, it produced 10 per cent of all organic light-emitting diode displays for iPhones, shipping 16 million units to Apple, according to Chinese market intelligence firm Runto Technology. However, a global chip shortage disrupted BOE’s production last year.
The company’s ability to win orders from Apple shows that “China has started to break down the monopoly held by foreign brands over high-end screen supplies”, Xiang Ligang, a Beijing-based technology analyst, was quoted as saying by Chinese newspaper Securities Daily.
While Apple has been diversifying its supply chain to mitigate risks such as regulatory uncertainties in China and geopolitical tensions, the Californian company remains dependent on Chinese factories for the manufacturing and assembly of many components and products.
