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Apple supplier BOE is still waiting for Apple's approval to produce OLED panels for the upcoming iPhone 14 series. The reason is that the supplier made design changes to the iPhone 13 display without Apple's approval.
Earlier this month, Apple excluded the Chinese display maker from the iPhone 13 supply chain after it was discovered that the company had changed the design of its OLED panels by increasing the circuit width of the thin-film transistors. The change was likely made to increase yield, according to the sources by The Elec. When Apple learned of this, it asked BOE to immediately halt production. As a direct result, BOE reportedly did not receive orders from Apple for OLED panels for the iPhone 14. The latest report claims that BOE visited Cupertino to explain why it unilaterally made the circuit changes. But it seems that this explanation did not convince Apple and the company is now considering awarding the contract originally intended for BOE to Samsung and LG instead.
iPhone 14: Samsung Display and LG Display could benefit
The Chinese display company sent an executive and staff to Apple headquarters after the incident to explain why they changed the circuit width of the transistors. They also asked the iPhone maker to approve the production of OLED panels for the iPhone 14, but did not receive a clear response from Apple, it added. It looks like Cupertino will award the order for around 30 million OLED panels that it wanted to give to BOE before the incident to Samsung Display and LG Display instead.
Apple is said to need more than 150 million OLED panels for the iPhone 14 series, up from the 140 million originally planned. Display panel manufacturers are likely to start production next month at the earliest. Samsung is expected to make the panels for the 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 (Pro) models, while LG will supply the panels for the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max. BOE has been making OLED panels for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at two factories in China, which accounted for only 10 percent of all iPhone displays in 2021. But the company had planned a significant expansion to overtake LG Display as one of Apple's main suppliers of iPhone displays in 2023. (Photo by ms_pics_and_more / Bigstockphoto)
