BEIJING, January  25 (TMTPOST)— BOE Technology  may win a major contract for another flagship iPhone lineup as a recent report said it aimed to supply for Apple’s higher-end iPhone models in 2023, the first time for the leading Chinese display panel maker to be a supplier of the premium iPhone.

Source: Visual China

BOE is aiming to make organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for iPhone 15 Pro series next year with low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) technology, which enables a smartphone refreshes at 120 Hz to get smoother scrolling and more immersive experiences, The Elec cited sources earlier this week. According to the South Korean electronics industry media outlet, BOE is expected to achieve the target about serving iPhone 15 Pro at its latest factory B12 in Chongqing, a municipality directly under the central government located in Southwestern China. Earlier this month, BOE was said to change the layout of the flexible AMOLED display production line in the factory that started operation last year to produce panels for smartphones, IT products and automobiles.

The news came as BOE and two South Korean rivals Samsung Display and LG Display are in race for Apple’s devices using OLED panels. BOE joined iPhone supplier list last year to become a display supplier for 6.1-inch iPhone 13 following the failure attempts in 2020 to supply displays for the iPhone 12 series. The Elec’s report revealed that BOE will supply the same panel for the lower-end iPhone 14 this year while OLED panel orders of the higher-end model are still in the hands of Samsung and LG.  

In last November, UBI Research CEO Choong Hoon Yi expected BOE could overtake Samsung and LG as the largest OLED panel supplier for iPhones by 2023. Yi said BOE can supply 15 million units for iPhone 12 and 3 million units for iPhone 13 that year, which account for 10% of OLED panel annual demands for iPhones. Given 240 million of Apple’s total panel shipment for iPhones, BOE is expected to ship 50 million units of panels this year, while Samsung and LG may have annual delivery of 150 million units and 70 million units respectively.