Apple begins selection of new smartphone substrate suppliers

It is reported that Apple will reorganize the flexible printed circuit board (RFPCB) supply chain management system for smartphones. It is looking for new suppliers and said it will reorganize the smartphone RFPCB supply chain system.

RFPCB is the part that connects the display and the motherboard to send and receive signals.

It is understood that Apple's RFPCB substrates were all supplied by Korean related companies. Last year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, the largest supplier of Apple's RFPCB panels, announced its withdrawal from the RFPCB substrate business, which led to obvious problems in Apple's RFPCB substrate supply chain. Although Apple quickly found companies to supplement the supply of RFPCB substrates, the company's RFPCB substrates have obvious problems in defect rate and output. It is worth mentioning that the company supplied 80% of the RFPCB substrates for the iPhone 14 series this time.

According to reports, in order to solve the problems the company is facing with RFPCB substrates, Apple is currently testing the product quality of other RFPCB substrate suppliers in South Korea. If the new RFPCB substrate supplier can pass Apple's tests, it is expected to see products from the company on the iPhone 15 series as soon as possible. But judging from the current news, the probability of the internal testing company passing the test is not high. According to the news, the company has no RFPCB substrate supply history before, and the product strength still needs to be considered.