BOE to supply OLED displays for iPhones

Chinese display panel makers BOE will supply OLED displays for iPhones in 2020, according to a Monday report from RPRNA.

The report said BOE, a world leader in TV LCD panels which has shifted its efforts to OLED panels, could start its OLED supply to Apple in 2020.

The report did not say whether Apple was going to try out these OLED screens or to officially use them in the iPhone 12 in 2020.

According to the report, BOE will ship 45 million OLED displays for iPhones in 2021, citing sources from South Korean analysts. This would make BOE overtake LG to become the second-largest OLED panel provider for Apple by 2021. Samsung, who became the biggest OLED display provider to iPhone in 2017, will remain Apple’s primary OLED supplier, RPRNA said.

The move aims to reduce Apple’s reliance on Samsung as the former works to diversify its supply chain.

BOE is also one of the major screen suppliers to Chinese tech company Huawei, the report said. The display producer has experienced strong growth in recent years mainly due to the popularity of Huawei smartphones.