Wait do some 3DSs use IPS panels? I swear mine has TN.

BOE probably has a bigger initial supply, so some of that would be used just for the limited edition. To be fair, I’m not 100% sure why, so take my explanation with a grain of salt.

I guess it was done so that they could have a good enough supply of the Steam Deck OLED. BOE is a very major display manufacturer, after all, only being behind Samsung and LG. They couldn’t really go with LG, as LG mostly makes TVs, and they use an additional white subpixel and a white substrate layer on their OLEDs, making them unsuitated for text. It would probably mean that LG would make something very different from what they do, increasing costs for the order more than for someone like Samsung or BOE.

BOE’s a major Chinese display manufacturer. They were supposed to be a major supplier for Apple’s iPhone 14 and 15 series, but Apple cut ties with them due to issues with light bleed around the Dynamic Island pill shape that houses the selfie cameras, as well as other issues like yield rates and defect rates. They’ve also made the OnePlus Open’s (a Chinese foldable phone) foldable inner display, which seems to have issues with dead or dying pixels, just like with the Steam Deck OLED.