According to a new well-informed report, Chinese display manufacturer BOE Display is set to become the top-tier supplier for the upcoming iPhone SE 4, pushing LG into second place. BOE is expected to produce and supply the majority of the new OLED displays for the model, while LG will focus primarily on OLED inventory for older iPhone models.
A strategy for emerging markets
With the iPhone SE lineup, Apple is specifically targeting emerging markets like India. The Cupertino firm hopes to sell around 20 million units of the iPhone SE 4. To achieve this, it plans to reuse the OLED screen of the iPhone 13 while lowering some specifications.
This approach will make it easier for manufacturers to produce quality panels, while allowing Apple to negotiate lower prices. BOE Display should thus ensure between 60 and 70% of the production of OLED screens for the iPhone SE 4. LG remains the supplier of old-generation screens, while Samsung produces the most high-end — and most expensive — panels. The latter would be excluded in particular for cost reasons, BOE being less greedy than the Korean giant.
We already know almost everything about the iPhone SE 2025. With specifications very close to the most high-end iPhones for an estimated price of around $499, the next iPhone SE will likely be a best-seller in its category.
Thwarted ambitions for the high-end
Currently, BOE only supplies 20% of Apple’s displays, having failed to produce panels that integrate Dynamic Island. A surprising situation, given that the iPhone SE 4 is precisely expected to adopt this feature. Does the report suggest that Apple could finally abandon it on this model?
Another Chinese manufacturer, Tianma, is also trying to secure orders for the iPhone SE 4. But in the longer term, BOE Display is mainly aiming to carve out a place in Apple’s high-end segment. If the Chinese company succeeds in doing so in the long term, it could do a lot of harm to Samsung, which derives significant revenue from its partnership with Apple.
This move upmarket by BOE could reshuffle the cards on the iPhone screen market in the years to come. But there is still a long way to go to dethrone Samsung and LG, firmly established as Apple’s preferred suppliers. Especially since the Korean remains the only one able to supply folding screens in industrial quantities, if Apple decides to use them. Quality and reliability will be the keys to achieving this.
In a context where Apple is seeking a double emancipation: that of external companies, and that of China, the strengthened partnership with BOE shows that this is not entirely possible for the moment. Although some products are assembled in India, China remains very important in Apple’s development. Cupertino being unable to manufacture its own panels – the abandonment of the in-house mini-LED is significant – it is necessary to play the competition between manufacturers, Samsung, LG and BOE in the first place.
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