The Elec reports that a new Chinese display manufacturer, TCL CSOT is aiming to join Apple’s supply chain. The publisher claims that TCL chairman Li Dongsheng is expected to visit Apple Park in Cupertino, California “very soon” to acquire LCD orders for iPads and MacBooks.
TCL Technology is a Chinese electronic manufacturer from Huizhou, Guangdong Province that designs, developers, produces, and sells consumers electronic appliances like televisions, air conditioners, washing machines, mobiles, and others, worldwide. CSOT is its subsidiary.
CSOT will give strong competition to Apple’s current display partner, BOE
In the first half of this year, CSOT formed a team to review the OLED production line for iPhone, in addition to LCD panels’ production. Therefore, it is going to be a threat to Apple’s current display partners like LG Display and especially, BOE. The report states:
CSOT is a fierce competitor to compatriot BOE in the global LCD market.
CSOT’s expansion plan will, besides BOE, also threaten South Korean display maker LG Display, which leads the supply of LCD panels to Apple for high-end devices.
LG Display is expected to supply 14.8 million LCD panels to Apple for MacBooks this year, according to Omdia, making its share in this specific supply chain 55%.
In June, Apple reinstated BOE to provide OLED panels for iPhone 13 series. After the manufacturer changed the design of the iPhone’s OLED panels by expanding the circuit width of the thin-film transistor without its approval, the tech giant ordered it to halt production in February this year.
But, for the upcoming iPhone 14 series, BOE will only produce 5 million display units out of the expected 90 million units. As usual, Samsung has bagged the biggest share of the tech giant’s business with 60 million units and 25 million units will be produced by LG Display.
Recently, the Cupertino tech giant added SG Micro to its smartphone supply chain. The Chinese supplier will provide components for the new iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models.
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