Legal violation at OLED technology: Apple supplier threatens US import ban

Iphones, in which screens of the Beijinger company Boe Technology (stands for Beijing Oriental Electronics Group Company Limited), could be banned from an import ban for the United States in the future. The US International Trade Commission, ITC for short, made a corresponding preliminary decision in Washington.

The Chinese Boe Group is said to have stolen and misused OLED business secrets from the South Korean manufacturer Samsung Display, report the South Korea Etnews. According to ITC, this contradicts the US Customs Law. It is not yet an arrangement, but a recommendation. However, this says that the responsible executive authority should impose an import ban.

The scope of the devices concerned unclear

At first it remained unclear which models would be affected. Apple had recently given Chinese iPhones with the domestic displays after the Boe production had repeatedly had problems. In the meantime, even the relationship of trust between Apple and Boe seemed to have broken because the company did not adhere to Apple’s clear guidelines. Most recently, there were reports on production errors (so-called light leaking) at panels for iPhone-15 models.

Samsung Display had made allegations to ITC after the OLED panel specialist who also worked for Apple had found that Boe apparently injured his rights. A legal dispute has been running since 2023. If the ITC arranges the ban on import, not only Oled panels from Boe would be affected, but also finished devices. However, imported hardware can continue to be brought into circulation.

Goods especially intended for China

According to one Report from Macrumors are “some” of the Iphones of 15, 15 plus, 16, 16 plus and 16e sold in the USA equipped with boe panels, possibly also parts of the production of the iPhone 17, which will be released in September. Boe continuously tried more orders.

The latest display technology based on LTPO, which also enables a variable refresh rate frequency, cannot yet produce Boe. Finally, Apple is said to have considered installing LTPo-Oleds from Boe for the first time on the iPhone 17 Pro, which are only intended for the Chinese market. However, they should not have fulfilled benchmarks before. In addition to Samsung Display, Apple also uses LG Display as a panel supplier.