BOE Intends To Overtake LG's Position To Supply IPhone OLED Screens In 2023

BOE wants to increase its production to meet the demand for flexible OLED panels for Apple's smartphones. (photo: : Tyler Lastovich / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Chinese display manufacturer BOE is reportedly in the process of increasing its production to meet the demand for flexible OLED panels for Apple's smartphones.

According to a UBI Research report, BOE has converted three existing factories including B7, B11, B12 to become suppliers of OLED iPhones. Due to this, it is claimed that BOE will overtake LG screens by 2023 to bag the second place in the list of companies supplying OLED panels for iPhones.

BOE's flexible OLED panel production capacity will reach 144,000 substrates per month in the fourth quarter of next year, up from the current capacity of 96,000. Equivalent to Samsung Display's current capacity of 140,000 substrates per month.

As for LG Display, its capacity reaches 30,000 substrates per month but the company plans to expand it to 45,000 substrates per month for flexible OLED panels and 15,000 for rigid OLED panels.

Citing Gizmochina, Monday, November 22, the BOE is also converting its B7, B11, and B12 plants from their current low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPO) thin-film-transistor (TFT) arrangement to their current low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) TFT.

Currently, BOE relies on its B7 and B11 factories to produce OLEDs for Apple, both located in China's Sichuan province. Meanwhile, B7 handles front-end processes, and B11 back-ends for iPhone 12. As for iPhone 13, B11 handles front and back processes.

Furthermore, UBI Research claims that BOE will be able to supply 15 million units of OLED panels to Apple for the iPhone 12 and 3 million units for the iPhone 13 this year. Overall, that will account for 10 percent of the total OLED panels used by Apple in this year's iPhones.

For 2022, Apple is expected to ship 240 million iPhones. It will be supported by OLED from Samsung which will target 150 million units, LG Display 70 million, and BOE 50 million units. Thus, BOE will only be able to overtake LG in 2023.