BOE Fails Apple's OLED Panel Validation for Second Time This Year

Chinese display maker BOE has reportedly failed yet again to secure a supply order from Apple for OLED panels for iPhones.

According to TheElec, OBE is still facing manufacturing issues at its Chengdu plant in Sichuan province, meaning the display maker has failed to secure Apple's validation for the OLED screens for the second time this year.

BOE's plant in Mianyang – in the same province – suffered the same fate in June, due to a low production yield rate of around 20 percent.

Apple's review for Chengdu began in September but only lasted a month and ended in failure in October, according to the report. BOE will now have to wait until the first half of 2021 to reattempt to clinch a supply deal, which means next year's iPhone series will likely use panels made by Samsung and LG Display.

BOE will have to wait until between May and June before it learns the results of its third review. If it does pass, the panels it supplies will be able to be used for refurbished iPhone 12 models.

Apple is expected to ship next year's "iPhone 13" in four models and similar sizes to this year's ‌iPhone 12‌ series, but the OLED panels used for the next-generation ‌iPhone‌ are said to be more technologically sophisticated.

Rumors suggest Apple is planning to adopt 120Hz ProMotion displays for at least two models in next year's ‌iPhone‌ lineup, made possible by a shift to low-power LTPO OLED technology. LTPO offers a more power efficient backplane, which turns the individual pixels on and off on the display, and allows for better battery life.

The two models with LTPO are likely to be the Pro models, which are the ones rumored to adopt ProMotion technology. All four 2021 ‌iPhone‌ models are expected to use on-cell touch screens as well, which allows multitouch functionality to be embedded on top of a thin-film transistor (TFT) rather than as a separate component above the display.