Apple Screens Chinese Panel Maker BOE as Its Third OLED Supplier(Yicai Global) Feb. 21 -- Chinese screen maker BOE Technology Group has made the running to become Apple's third supplier of flexible organic light-emitting diode panels.
BOE will provide the US computer and smartphone giant with these components for its folding-screen iPhones set for release next year, it confirmed yesterday after South Korean information technology media portal Etnews reported it earlier this week, citing an informed source.
Qualifying as a supplier does not mean Apple will automatically accept BOE's products, however. Rather, it will examine them via a complex quality control process before accepting delivery, the report stressed, noting BOE is undergoing Apple certification and will need time to come up to snuff with its quality standards.
Beijing-based BOE will produce and supply the screens to Apple at its B11 and B12 lines. The firm will start pilot production this year and is expected to provide panels for foldable iPhones next year.
Apple already has two major suppliers of flexible screen panels -- South Korea's Samsung and LG Display -- and is bringing BOE aboard to ensure its output, cut costs and diversify its supply sources. Apple will rigorously examine BOE's screens before taking delivery.
BOE inaugurated its first sixth-generation flexible OLED production line in Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan province in May 2017. The firm is building a second one in the province in Mianyang, which is scheduled for mass production this year, and has recently started yet a third in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing for a monthly production of 48,000 panels.
BOE began mass producing flexible screens at its B7 line last year with a high output. Chinese smartphone heavyweights Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi will likely also use BOE's B7 panels in their foldable phones.
BOE has outstripped Seoul-based multinational LG Electronics to become the world's largest supplier of liquid crystal TVs and panels, per data from semiconductor integrated circuit sector analytics firm Sigmaintell Consulting.
Editor: Ben Armour
