Apple display supplier BOE may lose all iPhone 14 orders after trying to cheat - 9to5Mac

Chinese display manufacturer BOE was only ever third-placed in Apple’s supply chain, behind Samsung and LG, but was still hoping to make as many as 40M OLED screens this year for a range of iPhone models.

Yield rates are always a challenge for Apple suppliers, as the company’s specs are often tighter than those set by other smartphone makers.

Even Samsung Display, which has the most-advanced OLED manufacturing capabilities, has at times had yield rates as low as 60% for iPhone displays.

BOE was apparently experiencing such low yields that it decided to cheat, by quietly lowering the specs on the iPhone displays it made.

The company was caught having changed the circuit width of the thin film transistors on the OLED panels it made for iPhone 13 earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said.

They also asked the iPhone maker to approve the production of OLED panels for iPhone 14, but didn’t receive a clear response from Apple, they also said.

Cupertino seems poised to give the order for around 30 million OLED panels it intended to give BOE before the incident to Samsung Display and LG Display instead!

Samsung remains the lead supplier, and is expected to make all of the higher-specced displays for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models