A judicial decision may result in Apple being prohibited from selling iPhones equipped with displays from Chinese manufacturers in the US. Although the ruling is not yet definitive, it appears highly probable that it will come into force later this year.
Apple would face a ban on the US sale of any iPhone featuring a display produced by China’s BOE, following allegations that the company misappropriated manufacturing techniques from Samsung.
Apple obtains iPhone displays from three suppliers: Samsung, LG, and BOE. Samsung has accused BOE of violating its trade secrets and submitted a complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
The ITC possesses the authority to prohibit companies from both importing products into the US and marketing them there if it determines that those products infringe upon patents or other trade secrets.
It was the ITC that restricted Apple from bringing in and selling Apple Watches equipped with the blood oxygen feature after it was determined that the company violated patents held by healthtech firm Masimo. Apple was compelled to disable the feature in watches sold in the US.
ET News reports that the ITC has upheld Samsung’s grievance against BOE.
Samsung Display achieved a significant triumph in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) trade secret infringement lawsuit brought against the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) concerning China’s BOE. The ITC ruled that it should acknowledge the infringement of BOE trade secrets in its preliminary ruling and implement measures to prohibit imports.
Although this is merely a preliminary judgment, scheduled for finalization in November, such decisions are seldom overturned.
The preliminary ruling is not the ultimate determination, yet it carries substantial implications as the ITC conducts an investigation into unfair trade practices. It is extremely uncommon for a preliminary ruling to be revoked in the final determination.
Unless overridden by the president, the ruling would then come into force, leading Apple to be unable to import any iPhone models with BOE-made displays into the US, or sell any of its current inventory of these models.
9to5Mac’s Take
My interpretation of this situation suggests that BOE engaged in industrial espionage to uncover Samsung’s manufacturing methods and subsequently duplicated these processes.
BOE only produces non-ProMotion displays, so Pro models would remain unaffected, but other iPhone 16 variants would be impacted. The ban would also extend to any iPhone 17 models featuring BOE displays. Currently, it appears likely that the standard iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Air will utilize non-ProMotion displays, which would necessitate Apple sourcing all these from Samsung and LG.
At a minimum, this could prompt Apple to hurriedly reconfigure its display supply chains to eliminate BOE. In the worst-case scenario, it could disrupt supplies of the base iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Air in the US.
