BOE Hit with Another Samsung Lawsuit, and Apple Might Be Caught in the Crossfire

Summary: Samsung has filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese display giant BOE in a U.S. district court, alleging unauthorized use of key OLED technologies. This follows previous legal victories for Samsung, and the dispute now threatens to ripple through global supply chains. With BOE supplying panels to major brands like Apple, the case underscores growing tensions in the display industry and highlights the need for diversified sourcing strategies.

Samsung is once again suing BOE over patent infringement. The company has filed multiple patent infringement lawsuits against BOE, and this is just the latest.

The suit filed against BOE this time was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Samsung is claiming that BOE and its six units have infringed on four of Samsung’s US Patents. These are US Patent Nos. 11,574,990, 11,574,991, 10,439,015 and 10,013,088. Samsung had already reached out to BOE back in May 2022 about these patents that they were apparently infringing on, and these displays were later used in devices like the Red Magic 9S Pro, Nubia Z60 Ultra, and more.

Samsung claims that BOE is infringing on its patent technologies covering OLED thin film transistor structure and cell structure. Samsung has had some success suing BOE in the US, including a ruling last month that BOE infringed on three Samsung Display OLED patents. Samsung has also claimed that BOE is poaching Samsung Display employees and using them to steal company trade secrets, through firms in Samsung Display’s supply chain.

The Impact on Global Supply Chains and Partnerships

This suit could have a pretty major impact on global supply chains and partnerships. BOE is quickly becoming one of the biggest display makers on the planet, and is really taking the competition to Samsung. So much so that Apple is actually sourcing displays from both companies. Apple tends to display parts from multiple companies, this is because their need is so much greater than other companies, but it also keeps ripples from happening in the supply chain. If something happens to BOE, Apple can still get displays from Samsung.

The litigation with this lawsuit could have some pretty big ripple effects throughout the global supply chain, and will test the supply chain resilience, as well as the need for companies to diversify their supplier base. I wouldn’t expect this to affect the supply chain this year, however. Most phones that are set to ship this year, the displays have already been made and shipped to wherever the phones are being assembled. Apple typically starts mass production for the iPhone around July, however, they have likely already sourced tens of millions of displays for the new iPhone 17 series.