US International Trade Commission to ban sales of iPhones with BOE displays

A recent preliminary US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling claims Chinese display maker BOE infringed Samsung Display's OLED trade secrets.

File photo: iPhone 16e

No more BOE display iPhone to be sold in the USA?

Apple sources components from multiple manufacturers. In this case, Apple gets its displays from either Samsung, LG, or BOE. BOE typically makes the non-ProMotion displays on vanilla iPhones and the majority of iPhone 16e displays.

The ITC ruling includes two orders—a limited exclusion order and a cease and desist order. The first prevents Apple from importing iPhones that infringe Samsung Display's OLED trade secrets into the US. The latter, on the other hand, prohibits Apple from using existing inventory and further production or sales activities.

The ban has yet to take effect and is expected to begin when the final ruling is made this November. ETNews has been following the suit and has reported that preliminary rulings are rarely overturned. 

After November, there is a two-month period during which President Trump can veto the final ruling.

However, X user @Jukanlosreve recently posted that Apple has approved BOE display panels for iPhone 17 Pro phones that will exclusively be sold in the Chinese market. The US's ITC has no influence on the Chinese domestic market, but it may affect how Apple distributes production quotas between its display suppliers. 

Aside from the ITC suit, Samsung Display filed a suit with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas seeking compensation for lost operating profit plus punitive damages over BOE's infringement.

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Source: etnews, X, PacerMonitor, via: GSMArena 1, 2