Samsung sued BOE three times in two years: The OLED patent war between China and South Korea escalates

On April 3, Samsung (SSNLF) launched its third lawsuit against BOE A (000725, hereinafter referred to as "BOE") in the Texas state court, accusing it of obtaining OLED trade secrets by poaching core employees, stealing equipment drawings, etc., for use in Chengdu's 8.6-generation AMOLED production line and Micro OLED technology research and development.

Micro OLED is the core display technology for AR/VR devices. Samsung’s move is aimed at curbing BOE’s breakthroughs in this field and maintaining its dominance in the global market.

In 2024, BOE’s automotive OLED shipments will rank second in the world, and its automotive OLED market share will surpass LG Display (LPL); mobile phone OLED will enter the supply chains of Huawei, Xiaomi (01810) and Apple (AAPL). Its Chengdu 8.6-generation line is expected to be mass-produced in 2026, which will directly threaten Samsung’s monopoly in the high-end IT panel market.

According to Omdia data, in the first quarter of 2024, China’s OLED market share reached 49.7%, while South Korea dropped to 49%. UBI Research predicts that China's share will rise to 54.8% in 2025, and South Korea's share will drop to 45.2%. Chinese panel companies are squeezing the Korean OLED market with cost advantages and technological breakthroughs.

Samsung failed in the LCD marketStep back and try to suppress the rise of China's OLED through legal means. Samsung has initiated lawsuits three times in two years since 2023, accusing BOE of acquiring technology through "systemic means." BOE counterattacked with nearly 28,000 OLED patents as of 2023 and 1,959 PCT international patent applications in 2024, and also launched a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung.

Previously, BOE won the case in the final ruling of the US ITC (International Trade Commission) on March 19, 2025 local time, while Samsung lost the case.

According to the third quarter report of 2024, BOE achieved revenue of 143.7 billion yuan, R&D expenses of 8.8 billion yuan; net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 224%.