BOE Technology Group is hoping to supply display screens for Apple’s iPhones from its new plant in Chengdu, in Sichuan, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the plans. The company, the world’s top producer of large liquid crystal screens, already makes display screen for iPads and MacBooks. It is now looking to provide Apply with advanced OLED (organic light-emitting diode) smartphone screens. BOE is the only Chinese display company that supplies Apple.
For Apple, having BOE as an OLED display supplier provides it with an alternative to Samsung, which Apple competes with in smartphones but relies on for the OLED screens.
BOE is controlled by the Beijing city government. It biggest shareholders are state-linked companies. BOE already supplies OLED screens to Huawei for the Chinese smartphone maker’s high-end Mate RS and expects more shipments to several major clients later this year, said Zhang Yu, BOE’s senior vice president, declining to name the clients. After months of trials, the current production yield at BOE’s plant in Chengdu is at about 70 percent, said Zhang.
