It seems BOE's elaborate plans to enter Apple's lucrative supply chain have been dashed again, as the company is struggling to meet Apple's quality standards for the LTPO OLED panels.
BOE continues to contend with quality issues related to LTPO OLED panels
According to a report by South Korea's ZDNet, China's BOE has been unable to supply the 10 million LTPO OLED panels that Apple contracted in the beginning of the third quarter of 2025.
Do note that BOE has no previous experience with Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LTPO) OLED panels. However, through concerted R&D efforts, the company was planning to enter Apple's sprawling iPhone supply chain this year, with total shipment volumes expected to reach as high as 40 million units.
Nonetheless, BOE seems to have failed to meet Apple's exacting quality standards. Consequently, its initial order for 10 million LTPO OLED panels for the iPhone 17 lineup will now be picked up by Samsung Display, which will ship 90 million panels to Apple, a step-up from its previous order cadence of around 80 million units.
Critically, BOE still hasn't managed to fully resolve the quality issues that are plaguing its production-ready OLED panels. This is all the more surprising given the fact that BOE's X3 OLED panels are already in use in the OnePlus 15, which features a 6.78-inch display, replete with a 165Hz refresh rate.
Do note that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently found China's BOE guilty of stealing Samsung Display's intellectual property by employing former employees and leveraging other confidential information. As such, BOE's OLED panels can't enter the US for the next 15 years, which gives Samsung and LG relatively unencumbered access to the US market for the next decade and a half. Samsung had been contesting this case in the US since 2023, and now stands to gain a major competitive advantage as a result.
Nonetheless, Samsung and BOE appear to have settled at least a part of their dispute via a licensing agreement that is said to be skewed in favor of Samsung.
Note: The post has been updated with additional details on the licensing agreement between Samsung and BOE.
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