A new supply chain report posted this morning claims that Apple is reforming its Rigid Flexible Printed Circuit Board (RFPCB) supply chain management for smartphones. RFPCB is a key part that connects the Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) panel with the motherboard. Due to quality issues that have occurred with some of their suppliers, Apple is now looking for new Korean suppliers. A significant impact is expected in the parts industry since Apple’s RFPCB is 100% made in Korea.
It was found that a new unnamed domestic mid-sized company is currently undergoing the smartphone RFPCB Performance Test (Qual) from Apple. The company has not yet supplied PCBs to Apple. RFPCB is a solid substrate, it also has the flexibility to be folded. The easier it becomes to design smartphone products, the higher the value added than the Flexible Circuit Board (FPCB) used in existing smartphone. RFPCB will be supplied to Apple OLED display suppliers and eventually be installed into iPhones.
Apple’s rush to find new suppliers was due to quality issues that surfaced within their existing supply chain. The company supplied some RFPCBs for Apple’s newly released iPhone products, but the volume was reduced significantly in comparison to the previous model. Problems such as defect rate and yield were brought up. As a result, Apple’s RFPCB primary vendor has been supplying up to 80% for the iPhone 14. It is the greatest percentage of supply ever.
Apple’s iPhone RFPCB is mainly supplied by mid-sized domestic companies because Samsung Electro-Mechanics withdrew its RFPCB business last year. For this part at least, Apple relies entirely on Korean companies. For more on this, read the full report from ETNews (Korean).
