Certain Chinese made iPhones face a ban in the United States
Certain iPhone models made in China face an import ban into the United States.
A ruling by the International Trade Commission (ITC) could prevent some iPhone units built in China from getting shipped into the U.S. The ITC is a U.S. Federal agency that rules on unfair trade practices. One of its powers is the ability to issue exclusion orders that ban products found to infringe on intellectual property rights. In 2023, two companies that you're probably familiar with, Samsung Display and Chinese display manufacturer BOE, were having a serious disagreement over alleged technology theft.
Both companies sued each other, and Samsung Display also filed a complaint with the ITC, which just announced a preliminary ruling. The ITC ruled in Samsung Display's favor, stating that the Samsung Electronics subsidiary "has proven by a preponderance of evidence" that BOE engaged in "misappropriation of trade secrets" to make its OLED panels. Yes, this is a preliminary ruling, and the final judgment will probably not be made until November. At that point, it will be up to U.S. President Donald Trump to decide whether the BOE products found to be infringing on Samsung Display's patents should be banned from the U.S.
If the ban is approved, iPhone units with OLED displays made by BOE would not be allowed to enter the United States. As it turns out, U.S. consumers might not be affected at all. Apple recently approved BOE as a supplier of OLED displays for the iPhone 17 Pro. But that approval covers the Chinese market only. Still, BOE reportedly produces displays for U.S. versions of the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and the iPhone 16e.
But Apple might not be impacted after all. That's because the ITC hasn't specified whether the ban covers just OLED displays or includes smartphones sporting BOE's OLED panels. Even if Apple itself is not included in any exclusion order, Samsung could sue companies using the impacted BOE displays and Apple could be one of the companies involved in such legal action.
One industry insider said that Apple could end up booting BOE from its supply chain. This would be a shame, as the company had to work hard to regain Apple's trust after it expanded the circuit width of the thin-film transistors on its OLED panels for the iPhone 13 series. BOE did not get approval from Apple to make this change, and it was done to improve the display supplier's yield, which was too low. Increasing the circuit width would make it easier for BOE to improve the yield on its iPhone OLED panels.
BOE is estimated to account for 20% of overall orders Apple has placed for iPhone displays. Apple could end up using BOE's OLED panels earmarked for the iPhone on units sold in China. If it is banned from the U.S. market, BOE could focus on the Chinese market and reduce its prices to take business away from Apple's Korean based display suppliers such as Samsung Display and LG Display.
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