Chinese display maker Beijing Oriental Electronics (BOE) struck a deal with Apple to supply OLED panels for the iPhone 14 series. However, South Korean publication The Elec reports that the company is yet to receive approval from Apple for the iPhone 14’s displays, and it could actually lose the order of about 30 million OLED screens for the 2022 iPhones.
That’s because BOE unilaterally changed the design of the circuit width of the iPhone 13’s OLED panels earlier this year to increase the yield rate, which resulted in Apple asking BOE to halt the production of the panels.
Apple iPhone 13
The production of the iPhone 13’s OLED panels by BOE has been halted since February, and The Elec reports that the display maker even sent a C-level executive joined by a few employees to Apple’s HQ to explain the reason behind making design changes unilaterally. BOE also asked the Cupertino-based tech giant to approve the production of OLED panels for iPhone 14, but it “didn’t receive a clear response from Apple.”
Apple reportedly wants to reduce its dependence on Samsung Display and LG Display by diversifying its suppliers and having a bargaining position. But since the company is said to have asked BOE to halt the production of iPhone 13 OLED screens and hasn’t approved the production of OLED panels for iPhone 14 yet, Samsung Display and LG Display will likely get orders for those 30 million panels that were supposed to be manufactured by BOE.