Samsung Display wins key OLED fight as BOE settles ahead of US ruling

Samsung Display has settled its yearslong OLED patent dispute with China’s BOE, prompting the US International Trade Commission to suspend a high-stakes investigation that had threatened to block BOE from one of the world’s largest premium display markets, industry sources said Wednesday.

The ITC confirmed that Samsung Display and BOE jointly filed a motion to terminate the ongoing probe following a settlement agreement. While neither company disclosed details of the deal, industry officials widely believe it includes BOE agreeing to withdraw all pending lawsuits and pay Samsung Display patent royalties — a significant concession in an increasingly competitive global OLED market.

Because royalties are typically assessed as a percentage of revenue generated from products using patented technologies, Samsung Display is expected to secure a recurring revenue stream tied to BOE’s OLED panel sales. The two firms had filed six intellectual property cases in the US this year alone — five initiated by Samsung Display and one by BOE — underscoring the scale of their legal confrontation.

The settlement arrives at a pivotal moment. In July, the US watchdog issued a preliminary ruling that would have barred BOE’s OLED panel imports for 14 years and eight months under a limited exclusion order, effectively removing the company from the US supply chain for smartphones, wearables and other consumer electronics. The ITC also moved to prohibit BOE’s China headquarters and its US subsidiaries from advertising, marketing or selling OLED panels in the country — a near-total market blockade. A final decision had been expected this week.

Samsung Display first escalated the dispute in December 2022 with a complaint accusing BOE of infringing its OLED patents, followed by a trade-secret theft case filed in October 2023. The claims largely centered on Samsung’s proprietary OLED stack structure and pixel arrangement technologies — key components that determine display brightness, efficiency and lifespan. BOE, one of China’s fastest-growing panel makers, had been angling to expand its role in supplying OLED panels for leading smartphone brands.

The settlement appears to halt what could have become a prolonged and costly multinational legal battle. Industry watchers say the resolution may help stabilize the OLED supply chain at a time of rising competition among global display manufacturers.

In the meantime, Samsung Display CEO Yi Chung held an employee town hall earlier in the day to share the company’s annual performance results and outline five strategic priority areas: foldables, IT OLED, QD-OLED, automotive displays and OLEDoS for extended-reality devices.

Yi said Samsung Display benefited in 2024 from strong demand for flagship smartphones, the successful timing of new product launches with major clients, growing QD-OLED monitor sales and expanded automotive display projects. He emphasized that the company must maintain “flawless execution” as rivals close the technology gap.

“We must reassess whether our product quality and manufacturing competitiveness truly meet customer expectations,” Yi told employees, urging a continued focus on “technology, customers and execution.”