Apple Drops BOE After iPhone OLED Hold-Up — Samsung Steps In as Supplier of Choice

A series of production hiccups prompted Apple to drop Chinese semiconductor display company BOE Industry (BOE Technology Group) for its iPhone OLED sourcing. To mitigate production delays, Apple has shifted its OLED manufacturing to Samsung Display, BOE's largest competitor.

In a MacRumors report, BOE has been facing challenges in its production processes since November 2025 that have yet to be resolved. Such problems have prompted the company to scale back production on specific models. The occurrence of this issue is anything but new to the Chinese company, as it fell short of securing Apple's supply order in June and November of 2020, attributing it to manufacturing issues and low output, per MacRumors.

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Despite that, Apple iPhones have relied on BOE Industry for their OLED panels, which have supplied OLED panels for iPhone generations spanning the iPhone 13 through the iPhone 17 series. Apple's entry-level phone, due to be launched in Spring, the iPhone 17e, has also been rumoured to acquire its OLED panels from BOE.

BOE Industry's Production Issues

According to The Elec Korea, BOE Industry's production issues are affecting OLED panel production for the iPhone 15, iPhone 16 and iPhone 17. The Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) OLED panels are used in iPhones 15 and 16, while the higher-tier Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide (LTPO) is used in the iPhone 17 series.

Sources say BOE Industry has previously had a stable supply of OLED panels to Apple, which is drawing attention to its current production issues. The Chinese tech company is working to ensure a stable supply of OLED panels for the iPhone 17e, Apple's budget-level phone model.

In 2024, BOE Industry allocated roughly 40 million OLED panels, but with the recent setback, its 2025 numbers aren't looking as good. The disruption from BOE Industry's production has prompted Apple Inc. to shift millions of OLED panel orders to Samsung Display from December to the present.

The Solution: Shifting to Samsung Display

Apple iPhones have relied on BOE Industry, Samsung Display and LG Display as prime OLED panel suppliers.

OLED-Info reports that Samsung supplied 124 million OLED panels to Apple in 2024, of which 64 million went to the iPhone 16 series. Samsung Display was projected to ship a million more in 2025, with 78 million going to the iPhone 17 series. LG Display, on the other hand, accounted for 67.5 million OLED panels in 2024 and 75 million in 2025. These numbers strengthened Samsung's position in supply data enough to make it Apple Inc.'s first and logical choice.

Industry estimates today suggest that 50% of BOE Industry's 10 million LTPO panels order will be covered by Samsung Display, prompting the South Korean tech giant to increase production, per WCCF Tech.

Production delays at BOE Industry can bottleneck the supply of Apple's 2026 iPhone models. From BOE Industry's perspective, the setbacks signal a critical disruption in its consistent efforts to expand its OLED partnership with Apple. It has secured the largest allocation of OLED panels with the iPhone 17e models to be released this year, according to a Heise report.

No official comment has yet been heard from BOE Industry or Apple Inc. Meanwhile, Apple Inc. is expected to shift its reliance heavily on Samsung for the OLED supply moving forward.