September 17 News: According to a Korean media businesskorea report, BOE has obtained approval to supply OLED displays for Apple's new smartphone iPhone13. Analysts said that this may pose a threat to Samsung Display and LG Display, which actually monopolize Apple's OLED supply.
Only when 100 percent meets Apple's requirements, BOE's display will be loaded into Apple's new smartphone. BOE has been seeking to supply OLED displays to Apple since 2017, but was rejected by Apple due to poor product performance and yield issues.
In 2020, it received conditional approval for the refurbished iPhone12 product and provided a very small amount of OLED for the basic iPhone12 model. For this reason, industry insiders believe that BOE is likely to supply OLED displays for iPhone 13, although the number may not be very large. BOE is producing OLED displays for Apple on its production line in Chengdu, Sichuan.
The supply of OLED panels to Apple by JD.com is of great significance, because it means that the 100 percent monopoly of Korean companies in the Apple-bound OLED display market is beginning to end.
According to data from market research company Omdia and Chinese IT media organization GIZ China, the usage of Apple's OLED panels in 2021 will be 172 million. Among them, 160 million (61.6 percent ) is expected to be used for iPhone13. Samsung Display will supply 77 million OLEDs (73 percent ) and LG Display 29 million (27 percent ). However, if BOE can successfully supply extremely small OLED displays for iPhone 13, BOE may get more orders from Apple in the future.
An industry insider said: "BOE's official supply of OLED displays to Apple may be a symbolic event." "Apple also needs to help BOE grow so that it can increase its price bargaining power with Samsung and LG."
Counterpoint Research said that at the same time, the proportion of OLEDs in all smartphones is expected to increase from 23 percent in 2017 to 47 percent in 2022. As of the first quarter of 2021, Samsung Display ranked first with a market share of 73.2 percent , and LG Display ranked second with 14.3 percent . South Korea's two display giants maintain a large gap with Chinese companies such as BOE 7.3 percent and China Star 2.4 percent .
However, the Chinese company is accelerating the pace of expanding its OLED display market share. China's OLED market share in smartphones increased from approximately 5 percent in 2018 to 12.6 percent in the first quarter of 2021. "China's market share may rise to 27 percent next year." Omdia predicted.
