Samsung filed a lawsuit against the Chinese panel maker BOE two years ago, suggesting the company stole trade secrets from the Korean tech giant. And it looks like the US ITC’s (International Trade Commission) decision might lead to ban of the import of BOE panels into the US.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the ITC has ruled to ban import of BOE’s OLED panels into the US for the next 14 years and 8 months. The ruling isn’t final, but the findings that BOE and its seven affiliates have violated the US Tariff Act by selling its panels through misappropriation of Samsung’s trade secrets are substantial.
The final verdict is due in November, but experts and analysts believe that the court will likely uphold the ban.
If the ITC carries out the ban, this will give Samsung some breathing room, as in recent years, BOE has been contesting the Korean company’s hegemony in the industry. BOE’s OLED panels now match Samsung’s in terms of quality and performance, while undercutting prices.
Moreover, BOE supplies about 22.7% of the iPhones with its OLED panels, so if the decision to ban BOE’s imports of OLED-related products becomes final in November, Apple will be forced to source more of its panels from Samsung and LG.
Apple isn’t the only US-based company that will suffer from such a trade ban. HP and Dell both use BOE panels for some of their products.