[ET NEWS] Chinese display maker BOE is supplying OLED panels for Huawei’s flagship smartphone Mate 20 Pro that will be launched in the latter half of this year, according to industry sources on July 12.

The panel production has reportedly started early this month but the exact size of the supply volume was not revealed.

“A deal with Huawei indicates BOE will supply panels for at least more than 1 million smartphones. The yield rate may be still lower than that of Samsung Display but a clear progress seems to have been made in its technological competitiveness,” an industry source told ET News on condition of anonymity. 

Despite its LCD prowess, BOE is a latecomer in OLED busines. Its OLED production line started operations in May last year and the first shipments were made in October. Since then, the firm has produced OLED panels mostly for after-sales services.

BOE’s fresh deal with Huawei also means a fiercer competition in the smartphone OLED market that has been dominated by Korean display makers. Currently, Samsung Display is the market leader with more than 90 percent market share, while LG Display is beefing up production, including a recent decision on a 10 trillion won (US$8.89 billion) funding.

By Yoon Kun-il (benyun@etnews.com)
This story was co-produced by ET News and The Investor