BOE . Also called ‘Jingdongfang’, this Chinese company is currently ranked No. 1 in global displays. Thanks to BOE ‘s success, China’s global display market share was 42.5% last year, higher than Korea (36.9%), Taiwan (18.2%), and Japan (2.1%). In the LCD (liquid crystal display) market, it pushed out Samsung Display and LG Display through a low-priced supply offensive . There are many evaluations that this is the result of blatant copying of Korean technology and astronomical support from the Chinese government.
Acquisition of Korean company ‘Hidis’ at a low priceA typical example is the acquisition of ‘Hidis’. Hydis is the former TFT LCD division of Hyundai Electronics. Hyundai Electronics spent 15 trillion won to acquire LG Semiconductor in accordance with the ‘big deal’ policy at the time of the Kim Dae-jung administration, but faced a crisis due to the recession in the semiconductor economy. Creditors pushed for a separate sale of the LCD division, and the LCD division that was spun off at this time was Hydis. In 2002, Hydis was sold to BOE at a bargain price of 450 billion won . It is said that most of the acquisition money came from the Chinese government.
BOE , which was a company in the red for 10,000 years at the time, prepares a foothold to compete in the global market with the acquisition of Hydis. This is the result of absorbing Hydis’ technology. BOE ‘s strategy is evaluated to resemble Samsung’s strategy in the late 1990s. Regardless of industry conditions, the company continued to invest large-scale funds to secure production facilities. In September 2007, a production line was established in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It aggressively established production bases in Hefei and Chongqing. By 2010, the total investment will reach 20 trillion won. During the 2008 financial crisis, it depended on the Chinese government’s support and endured.
BOE sold LCD panels for TVs cheaper than Samsung Electronics and LG Display . This was possible because of government support. slowly eroded the market. BOE’s share of the 9-inch and larger LCD panel market, which was only 1.7% in 2010, recorded 5.5% in 2012 and rose to 12.1% in 2015. And in 2017, it recorded 21.5%, surpassing Samsung and LG to rank first. Samsung quit the LCD business altogether, and LG closed the domestic large LCD panel business.
I’m copying Korean technology, but I’m having a hard time with OLEDBOE even coined the term ‘King’s Law’ to show confidence. According to information technology ( IT ) media such as Digital Daily, a BOE official who attended the keynote speaker at the ‘Display Business Forum 2023’ held at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul on the 17th said, “As semiconductors have Moore’s Law and Hwang’s Law, BOE has “There is a ‘law of the king,’” he said. Since display panel prices drop 50% every three years, it is necessary to secure product performance more than twice as much to maintain profitability.
The ‘King’ of the King’s Law is the assertion of Wang Dong-seong, the former chairman of BOE , who is called the godfather of display in China. Wang is currently working at Swin in China, which is focusing on developing advanced technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence ( AI ). BOE raised Chairman Wang to the ranks of Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, who is called the father of semiconductors, and Hwang Chang-gyu, former president of Samsung Electronics, who led the heyday of Samsung Electronics’ memory semiconductors. A BOE official said, “As of the end of 2022, one out of four display panels is a BOE product.”
BOE ‘s recent focus is organic light emitting diode ( OLED ). The small and medium-sized OLED market is dominated by Samsung Display and the large-sized OLED market by LG Display. Competition is fierce between Korean display companies trying to defend the market and BOE trying to encroach on the market.
It seems that BOE has not been able to achieve great results so far. This is because there is a large technological gap with Samsung Display, which is preoccupying the market and focusing on technological advancement. A representative example is Apple’s competition to supply OLED displays for the iPhone. BOE succeeded in supplying OLED panels for the iPhone 14 . However, it is known that it mainly supplies repair panels, not premium iPhone models such as Pro and Pro Max. Regarding the iPhone 15, which is scheduled to be released in October, there are recent foreign reports that ” BOE failed to pass Apple’s test.”
Suspicion of stealing Samsung’s ‘Diamond Pixel’ patentIn the global display industry, the evaluation that ‘BOE stole Samsung Display’s patent’ is spreading even in relation to OLED panels for repair . Unlike Korea, where official service centers are developed, there are many ‘private’ repair companies in the United States. It is said that BOE supplies OLED panels for iPhone to private repair companies , and Samsung Display’s patent was used without permission during the production of this panel. It is known that the stolen patents also included the ‘diamond pixel’ technology that Samsung Display is proud of. The diamond pixel is a pixel structure that Samsung Display first applied to the Galaxy S4 in 2013. Based on the fact that the human eye reacts most sensitively to green among red, green, and blue, it is a technology that makes the green element the smallest in size and distributes it most densely to bring out the best color. Another feature is that the pixels are arranged diagonally at 45 degrees. Samsung Display filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission ( ITC ) in December of last year, saying, “Please do not use panels that infringe on patents.” In June, it directly targeted BOE스포츠토토 and filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas, USA, claiming that it “infred on OLED patents for smartphones .” Prior to this, in May, BOE
When Samsung filed a lawsuit in its own court, saying, “Samsung copied its OLED technology,” it took a ‘strong response’.
Samsung Display’s ultra-hard responseSamsung Display unusually strongly criticized BOE at the 2nd quarter performance briefing held on the 27th of last month. Choi Kwon-young, vice president of Samsung Display, said, “Recently, as competition intensifies in earnest, theft and infringement of intellectual property, which is the basis of our competitiveness, is increasing.” “he explained. “Patent infringement does not stop at simply undermining the competitiveness of individual companies, but eventually breaks down the rules of competition and the industrial ecosystem,” he said. “We will do our best to protect technology assets and create a healthy and fair industrial ecosystem.”
So far, BOE has not released a position regarding Samsung Electronics’ warning on this day. However, at the ‘Display Business Forum 2023’, a BOE official emphasized its technological prowess . It was also ranked among the top 10 companies by the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ) for 2018.”
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