According to beancounters at Omdia  that puts BOE ahead of long-time rivals LG Display and Sharp, who are  losing ground as Apple leans into the MacBook Air’s larger LCD variants.

BOE’s has an industrial sprawl across cities like Beijing, Hefei, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan and Suzhou. These factories pump out LCD and OLED panels at staggering scale and efficiency, allowing BOE to grab 51 per cent of Apple’s MacBook panel orders in 2025, up from 39 per cent last year.

Apple will buy around 22.5 million MacBook panels in total this year. LG Display’s shipments will drop by more than 12 per cent, and Sharp’s by over 20 per cent.

That makes uncomfortable reading for Washington, which has spent years demanding that Apple relocate production to US soil. The Trump camp has pushed for Apple to assemble iPhones and other kit inside America, calling it a patriotic obligation. Others in the US administration have accused Apple of dragging its heels.

BOE’s massive Chinese factories are doing the job at the right price and scale for Apple's ample bottom line. Shifting that production to the US would be ruinously expensive and logistically daunting. Even Apple insiders admit the costs of making an iPhone in the US could top $3,500 a pop.

So while American politicians shout about bringing manufacturing home, Apple continues to rely on Chinese factories like BOE’s to build its core hardware. For now, China remains the centre of gravity in Apple’s supply chain, and no amount of flag-waving will change that anytime soon.