Samsung makes its own AMOLED displays for smartphones and arguably does the best job at it. The company also makes other types of displays. But, at the same time, it also sources a large chunk of its display requirements from firms like BOE. The Chinese company has been one of its key suppliers of LCD panels for TVs for the past several years. Samsung also used BOE’s OLED panels on some of its budget and mid-range Galaxy smartphones. However, the two firms were recently locked in a dispute over royalty payments. Since Samsung has long been the world’s largest TV maker, its partnership with BOE helped the latter gain exposure in the global market. The Chinese display maker used Samsung’s name for marketing purposes. Understandably, the Korean behemoth wants royalty payments for it. But, BOE declined, or maybe the two parties couldn’t agree on a royalty structure. Either way, BOE is not paying any royalties to Samsung. The latter has responded by removing the former from its supply chain. It has been reducing orders from BOE since early this year. But, the latest report coming out of South Korea says Samsung has altogether stopped sourcing display panels from the Chinese company. BOE was listed as one of Samsung’s suppliers until the third quarter of this year. The updated list doesn’t feature the Chinese brand.
Samsung is shuffling its supply chain
BOE’s omission is part of a broader shuffling of Samsung’s supply chain. The company has already roped in China’s Sunny Optical as a new camera supplier for flagship devices. It will reportedly supply 10MP folded zoom (10X) and 12MP ultra-wide cameras for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung may also use Sunny Optical cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldables. It’s not unusual for big tech companies to frequently revise their supply chain, removing a few existing suppliers and replacing them with new ones. Sunny Optical is just one of many new names on Samsung’s updated suppliers list. Semes, Hansol Technics, KH Vatech, and Simmtech, are a few others to name. Alps Electric, Nitto Denko, and Rohm, meanwhile, have lost their Samsung contracts along with BOE. You can see the full list below (via). Companies shaded in blue are new entrants.
