In early-January, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo surprised the market with his prediction that Chinese display maker BOE would overtake Samsung for iPhone 15 displays, taking as much as 70% and leaving Samsung with 30%. That prediction put Samsung into legal mode to stop that from happening. In late-January Patently Apple reported that Samsung Display had filed a complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against 17 U.S. repair shops using displays from competitors. It was an indirect attack on Apple display supplier BOE. Then in April, the U.S. ITC launched a formal investigation to BOE display possibly infringing Samsung. Then in May, BOE display struck back and sued Samsung for patent infringement.  

Today we're learning from a Korean Business news site that Samsung has stepped up its fight against BOE Technology by suing them for infringing their iPhone 12 OLED patents. Samsung Display sued BOE in the Texas Eastern District Court, a court usually reserved for patent trolls.

Their intensifying legal dispute highlights China’s efforts to eat away at Samsung’s dominance in the OLED panel market. In the LCD market, Samsung was overtaken by BOE as the world’s No. 1 player in 2021, giving up its 17-year-long supremacy.

Samsung knows all too well that BOE is now gunning for dominance in the OLED display sector. Currently, the Korean Display Industry commands 81.3% of the global OLED market, trailed by China with a 17.9% share.

While Samsung will fight BOE Technology in the courts, especially U.S. courts, it should be noted that this is now becoming an issue with the U.S. Government. A year ago, Washington launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) aimed at regrouping advanced democracies amid the rise of some autocratic states such as China, which U.S. President Joe Biden described as "… a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies."

The alliance of techno-democracies protects technologies seen as critical such as 5G, quantum communication, facial recognition, AI, EV batteries and displays in their rivalry with China, with the help of its Asian allies. Korea and Taiwan are the leaders in semiconductors, and keep these high-tech ecosystems afloat.

While displays are currently a lower priority, Korea is working with U.S. officials to officially add displays to Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. Should Korea and U.S. agree to add displays to the framework, the U.S. Government could put pressure on U.S. tech companies like Apple to use displays from Korea in their devices over Chinese rivals.

Without it being an official U.S. policy, Apple will continue to use the best technology at the best price that could very well mean using displays from BOE. That's why Samsung must continue on the path of filing patent infringement lawsuits to unofficially put Apple on notice.