For the first time ever, China-based display panel maker BOE is supplying panels to Huawei for the Chinese giant’s upcoming Mate 40 flagship series. As per the report coming from Korea-based The Elec, BOE is supplying on-cell OLED panels that have the touch sensor embedded in the panel itself.
This is a major development for BOE which seems to be closing the technology as well as the supply gap with its competitors — Samsung Display and LG Display for the OLED panels, which remains the leader in the smartphone market.
Huawei had sourced on-cell OLED panels for the P40 series smartphones from Samsung Display and LG Display. BOE had also attempted to become a vendor for the same lineup but didn’t receive any orders. Later, Huawei sourced add-on OLED panels from BOE for the P40 Pro series.
As per the report, BOE is exclusively supplying on-cell OLED panels for the Huawei Mate 40 while the company is a co-supplier for the display panels of Mate 40 Pro, along with Samsung Display and LG Display.
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It won’t be surprising if the Chinese giant selects BOE as an exclusive display supplier for its upcoming smartphones, even the flagship ones. Since the US-China trade war and several sanctions on Huawei from the U.S. government, the company has been trying to reduce dependence on other countries and is sourcing components domestically.
There are two other Chinese companies that are producing on-cell OLED panels — Compatriots CSOT and Visionox. But so far, none of them have managed to win orders from Huawei.
Earlier this month, it was reported that BOE could be supplying OLED panels for the upcoming 5G iPhone 12 series models but not for the initial batches given that the company has not yet met Apple’s standard for the iPhones. But reports indicate that BOE could enter the supply chain for iPhone at a later stage.
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