BOE may lose millions of iPhone 14 orders after unauthorized screen changes

BOE is alleged to have changed the circuit width of the thin film transistors (TFT) on its iPhone 13, and was caught by Apple in February 2022. Apple halted production and now BOE is reportedly at risk of losing all the orders it was due to get for the iPhone 14.

According to The Elec, unspecified sources say that BOE sent a C-level executive — so possibly the Chief Technology Officer, or perhaps even the Chief Executive Officer — to Apple's headquarters. He or she, plus an unknown number of employees, presented their case for why they had changed the design.

It's not known how Apple reacted, but The Elec says that the BOE team asked the company to approve its production of iPhone 14 OLED panels. It did not receive a clear response.

The Elec estimates that BOE would have received 30 million orders if it were not for this incident. It believes that Apple is now more likely to place the orders between Samsung Display and LG Display instead.

However, production on the iPhone 14 screens is not expected to begin until June at the earliest.

The Elec has a mixed track record on Apple-related stories. While it has a decent one on supply chain matters, like this one, it has a notably poorer one on Apple's specific plans or making inferences from the data it gleans from within the supply chain.