Apple Reportedly Canceled Orders of Chinese iPhone 17 Pro Displays

[Non-Euclidean]

There are no major U.S.-based manufacturers that competitively produce the high-volume LCD and OLED display panels for products like smartphones, TVs, and monitors that BOE specialises in. The display panel manufacturing industry is dominated by companies in Asia, particularly China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Two in South Korea, two in Taiwan. LG is no longer manufacturing phones, and I doubt Samsung would jeopardise its global presence by supplying to a competitor. So, it'd be BOE in the end.

I don't think there is a bit of truth in your conclusion. Samsung has multiple divisions/companies that all try and make money and if they have capacity and are not suffering from demand constraints to their sister companies, they will sell to anyone.

AI Derp response

Samsung's own products

• Smartphones: Samsung uses its own OLED displays for its high-end Galaxy S and Z-series phones.
• TVs: While Samsung Display manufactures its own QD-OLED panels for premium TVs, Samsung Electronics also buys W-OLED panels from LG Display to use in other models, especially to meet demand for specific sizes like 77-inch and 83-inch TVs.
• Monitors: Samsung supplies its QD-OLED panels to other companies, like Alienware and Philips, and also uses them in its own monitors.

Other companies

• Apple: Samsung Display is a primary supplier of OLED panels for Apple's iPhone and iPad Pro models.
• • Sony: Samsung Display supplies its QD-OLED panels to Sony for use in its TVs.
  • Other TV and monitor manufacturers: Samsung's display division also supplies panels to various other companies, such as Panasonic, Philips, and others.

and Reddit
Samsung OLED Displays

 

[chmania]

I don't think there is a bit of truth in your conclusion.

Can you tell us, who might be the competitors for BOE in the US?

Samsung has multiple divisions/companies that all try and make money and if they have capacity and are not suffering from demand constraints to their sister companies, they will sell to anyone.

Even if Samsung has the "capacity," would they go against their own business presence in the world? Surely, it’s always beneficial to sustain the competition to some extent, just to maintain consumer demand for their own products.

 

[one more]

It sounds like BOE fails every year and yet Apple keeps on trying them. What’s going on? 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[kirk.vino]

Maybe dive into that thread and see what's being said. I volunteered my serial number and was told it was BOE. I don't have actual documentation that calls out serials to manufactures.

Told by who? That thread is nothing but speculation and personal anecdotes. None of those panel codes have ever been officially corroborated. It all originated years ago from an article by GSMArena. It’s all pure speculation.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

It sounds like BOE fails every year and yet Apple keeps on trying them. What’s going on? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Exactly, just drop them already but it’s probably because they’re substantially cheaper than Samsung and LG or else why go through the headache. BOE used to get, maybe still does, the entry level iPhone models.

 

[sw1tcher]

BOE was preparing to supply up to 10 million OLED panels for the iPhone 17 Pro in the Chinese market after receiving initial mass-production approval from Apple early in the third quarter of 2025. The supplier's progress apparently stalled due to unresolved technical problems affecting panel reliability, yield, and performance, making it unable to meet Apple's LTPO performance requirements.

Samsung Display will now seemingly take over BOE's planned volume for the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple was like "Sorry, but we're taking our business to Samsung because your product is Below Our Expectations"

 

[sw1tcher]

It sounds like BOE fails every year and yet Apple keeps on trying them. What’s going on? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Apple penny-pinching

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Can you tell us, who might be the competitors for BOE in the US?

Even if Samsung has the "capacity," would they go against their own business presence in the world? Surely, it’s always beneficial to sustain the competition to some extent, just to maintain consumer demand for their own products.

You go ask them, since they are doing it despite your expectations.

 

[Jeeve Stubbs]

China, South Korea, Taiwan… it's amazing how tight a grip each of these countries has on specific technologies.

 

[SFjohn]

There's a thread on this in the iPhone section under the topic "panel lottery." Below are the steps they provided in the thread.

“For those wondering how to check your display manufacturer...

You can run sysdiagnose on your phone (press volume up, volume down, and lock button) all together for around a second. You will feel the phone vibrate.

Wait a couple of minutes and then go to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Analytics and Improvements -> Analytics Data.

You will then scroll down and look for a file titled: sysdiagnose_XXXXXXXX.

You will click on that file and then click the arrow in the upper right hand corner and scroll down and click “Save to Files” Once it is saved you will go into your files and click the file to unpack it.

Within the folder that is unpacked you will click on the folder “ioreg” and then click the file “IODeviceTree”.

You will then use the magnifying search glass in the bottom right hand corner to search “raw-panel”. It will then give you a serial number.

I have an LG display which has the beginning letters of GH3.

GVC is the best of the LG panels but not as good as Samsung’s best which is the G9N.

The top 3 panels are:

• Samsung G9N • Samsung G9Q • LG GVC

I’m quite happy about how my display looks. I have no desire to find out the manufacturer. That’s a torturous process to go through & I’m stuck with what I purchased either way. 🤷