Samsung is in talks with BOE to supply OLED panels for Samsung Galaxy smartphones, if carried out smoothly will reach an agreement as early as June, according to Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC).
Specifically, BOE will be launched next year in the S21 series of S21+ (tentative name) to provide 6.67-inch OLED screen and is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year to provide 6.67-inch FHD+OLED screen for the A91 phone.
Samsung Galaxy series phones have been buying panels from Samsung Display (SDI) and the DSCC thinks this will soon change for the following reasons.
1. Samsung wants to reduce panel prices and costs, especially considering that its biggest competitors: Huawei, Apple and others plan to source products from BOE or other suppliers.
2. Samsung wants to diversify its supply chain to prevent supply chain disruptions caused by unexpected situations such as natural disasters.
3. SDI can increase the price of the external panel
4. Many brands such as OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and other manufacturers want to buy more products from SDI, relatively speaking, SDI can provide more reliable output and advanced technology.
5. BOE and Qualcomm reached an agreement on the ultrasonic fingerprint used by Samsung Galaxy
6. BOE has previously provided OLED panels for Samsung's smart watches
BOE has made significant advances in equipment technology and production and has an increasing number of flexible OLED capacities. In the near future, BOE will not be the exclusive supplier of any Samsung phone model and will use multiple sourcing.
The DSCC also said that in the near future, another supplier may also break into Samsung's supply chain, such as Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd (CSOT), which is associated with SDI in the LCD TV panel space.