South Korean display makers to get boost as ITC's impending ban on Chinese BOE panels

Samsung Display's headquarters is seen in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in this undated photo. Courtesy of Samsung Display

SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Display maker Samsung Display is expected to benefit from a ruling that would ban U.S. imports of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels from China’s BOE Technology for more than a decade.

In a preliminary ruling last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) barred the Chinese display maker and its seven subsidiaries from importing OLED panels into the U.S. for 14 years and 8 months, industry sources said Wednesday.

The ruling followed Samsung Display's complaint over trade secret theft in October 2023, with a final decision expected sometime in November.

The ITC found that BOE violated Section 337, which applies to the importation or sale of products made abroad, by illegally obtaining trade secrets through the hiring of former employees or via supplier contracts to access Samsung Display's proprietary OLED technology.

Samsung Display alleged that BOE acquired the technology without independent research and development, despite being a latecomer, some 16 years after Samsung began producing OLEDs in 1997.

The ruling's unprecedented penalty length was calculated by combining the development timelines of multiple OLED technologies that Samsung Display created over decades, with a massive investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ITC also imposed restrictions on BOE's marketing and advertising activities in the U.S, effectively halting all its business operations.

Industry observers described such bans as "unprecedented in severity," as part of broader strategies amid the U.S.’ heated competition with China, making it virtually impossible for BOE to acquire new U.S. customers."

BOE held 22.7 percent of share for small OLED panel markets for Apple's iPhone in the second quarter of this year, surpassing LG Display's 21.3 percent, according to industry data.

BOE's rival market players like Samsung Display and LG Display, which have served as Apple's primary and secondary suppliers, are expected to get a boost, once the ruling is finalized in November.

Candice Kim candicekim1121@ajupress.com