It is a pretty well-known fact that for Apple’s iPhone OLED screens, the company typically sources from Korean producers such as Samsung. However, starting in 2020, Apple is apparently said to be moving away from Korea and looking towards China, where Chinese company BOE is expected to supply Apple with some of the OLEDs for the 2020 iPhone.
The report from RPRNA says that for now, Samsung is expected to continue being Apple’s main supplier, but BOE could potentially be getting more orders compared to LG, but less so than Samsung. We’re not sure if there are plans to eventually shift more orders to BOE, but it makes sense that Apple would want to diversify its supply chain.
This is because in the past, Apple and Samsung had a bit of a contentious relationship due to the legal battles that took place around the world over patent infringements. There is no doubt that this has somewhat soured the relationship between both companies. However, it also makes good business sense to not put all their eggs into one basket, so by diversifying to BOE, Apple will reduce potential bottlenecks should it ever occur.
As it stands, BOE already supplies LCDs to Apple for use in their iPads and MacBooks, so both companies already have a working relationship with each other.
Filed in . Read more about China and iPhone. Source: 9to5mac