Currently, Samsung and LG are responsible for fulfilling Apple’s iPhone OLED orders, with earlier reports claiming that Chinese giant BOE will supply LTPO panels for next year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, there is a chance that another manufacturer from the same region wants some of those orders, though the path may not be as simple as one might think.
Chinese Display Maker CSOT Reportedly Wants to Make a Demo Line in a Bid to Secure iPhone OLED Panel Orders
As BOE gears up to re-purpose a factory to mass produce iPad OLED screens, The Elec reports that CSOT also wants in on the action and has plans to make a demo line and see where its display quality falls at. Currently, this display manufacturer is supplying Samsung with OLED screens for the less expensive Galaxy M models but will reportedly kick it up a notch by providing its Korean customer with panels for a slightly higher-end Galaxy A73 this year.
For CSOT, if everything goes according to plan, the manufacturer will commence mass production at its T4 factory situated in Wuhan, China. The T4 facility can make Gen 6 (1500 x 1850mm) flexible OLEDs, with a total capacity reaching approximately 45,000 units a month. However, the road could be paved with more than CSOT’s fair share of obstacles, as BOE has won orders to provide Apple with just LTPS screens for the less premium iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 units.
Though it has apparently secured iPhone 14 panel orders, the Chinese giant is limited to fulfilling orders for the non-Pro models. It may take a while before BOE passes Apple’s quality measures and begins mass producing LTPO displays for the more luxe iPhone versions. This reveals that CSOT needs to step up its quality game and if that was not evidence enough, another Chinese panel maker Visionix went through Apple’s evaluation during Q4, 2021, in an attempt to win OLED orders.
Unfortunately, the plan did not go so well for Visionix, but it apparently plans on trying again at an unreported time. Adding more Chinese suppliers will also put pressure on Samsung and LG to lower their OLED prices, but if Apple continues to rely on these two for LTPO orders, that plan will not reach completion.
News Source: The Elec
