On May 21, according to foreign media reports, after finding that BOE changed the screen specifications set by apple without permission, apple is considering canceling the order for up to 30 million iPhone 14 OLED screens granted to the company. It is said that BOE changed the circuit width of thin film transistor (TFT) on iPhone 13, which may be to improve the yield. Changing the design may make the screen thicker and therefore easier to manufacture.
Apple discovered these changes in February 2022 and has asked BOE to stop production. As a direct result, it is said that BOE has not received Apple's iPhone 14 order for OLED screen.
According to anonymous sources, BOE has sent C-level executives (chief technology officer or CEO) to lead an unknown number of employees to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino to coordinate the matter and explain their reasons for changing Apple's original design.
At present, it is unclear about Apple's response, but it is said that BOE team asked apple to approve its production of iphone14 OLED screen. At present, the company has not received a clear response from apple.
It is reported that apple is interested in ordering 30 million iphone14 OLED screens from BOE, but the company is now more likely to choose between Samsung display and LG display. It is said that Apple hopes to provide more than 150 million OLED screens for the iPhone 14 series, higher than the 140 million originally planned to order.
However, the iPhone 14 screen is not expected to start production until June at the earliest. Among them, Samsung is expected to produce screens for 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro models, while LG is expected to supply screens for 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro max.
BOE's two factories in China produce OLED panels for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, accounting for 10% of all iPhone screens in 2021, but the company has always planned to expand on a large scale to replace LG display and become one of the main suppliers of Apple's iPhone screens in 2023.
In addition to arbitrarily changing Apple's design, BOE also faces the challenge of a shortage of display driver chips, which are also one of the components with the largest supply shortage in the world.
The global chip shortage is caused by many factors. These factors include increased demand for chips during the epidemic, production disruptions related to the epidemic, and growing demand for chips from carmakers, as cars rely on more and more microprocessor units.
The biggest problem in the chip supply shortage crisis is not the shortage of CPU and GPU, but the shortage of more common chips, such as display drivers and power management systems. These relatively low-tech chips are used in a large number of devices, including Apple's devices. (small)