Earlier this week, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple gives Samsung, LG and BOE the green light to begin Mass Production of iPhone 16 OLED Displays."  The report noted that "BOE is expecting to supply two types of OLED for the iPhone 16 standard lineup." Some were surprised that BOE made it into Apple's iPhone 16 supply chain.

The reality is that China is rapidly closing the technological gap with Korea in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel sector, showcasing a slew of new technologies in foldable and slidable panels, which are outpacing the traditional liquid crystal display (LCD) market. Huawei's massive leap in foldables in Q4-24 (+257%) allowed them to overtake Samsung. BOE is a major Huawei OLED display supplier for smartphones, foldables and tablets.

Business Korea reports that "Industry analysis indicates that China is rapidly expanding its influence in the high-growth mid-sized OLED market, reducing the technological gap with Korea to barely over a year. On April 30, China’s largest panel manufacturer, BOE, unveiled a 31.6-inch slidable OLED panel at SID2024, the world’s largest display expo. This innovative product extends sideways when needed, hiding the screen when not in use.

Furthermore, BOE introduced its “Hybrid Refresh Rate OLED” technology at the expo, which adjusts a display’s refresh rate to reduce power consumption.

The Chinese display industry is swiftly expanding its territory in the OLED market, bolstered by strong governmental support and competitive pricing, along with massive domestic consumption driving up sales volumes.

According to China's market research firm Sino Research, in the first quarter of this year the combined market share of Chinese panel manufacturers like BOE reached 53.4%, a significant increase of 15.6 percentage points from the same period last year. Samsung Display retained its top position despite a drop from 53.3% to 41% in market share, a decline of 12.3 percentage points, while LG Display ranked sixth with 6%. Industry experts now estimate the technology gap between Korea and China in the OLED sector to be between one year and one and a half years.

BOE is gradually becoming part of the supply chain for major global IT market players like Apple by meeting the stringent technical standards set by the company. Despite initial failures in Apple’s quality tests due to technical defects, BOE recently managed to supply panels for models such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

With advancements in technology for new form factors like foldable and slidable markets, China is continuing to close in on Korea’s lead. Market research firm Omdia forecasts that by mid-year, China will have shipped 6.4 million foldable OLED panels, surpassing Samsung Display’s 5.7 million units. China is expected to hold 53% of the total foldable OLED panel market.