Samsung may supply foldable screens to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers

People familiar with the matter disclosed that Samsung Display, a display manufacturer under South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, is already preparing to expand its foldable screen business and has begun selling products to companies outside of Samsung’s mobile division. The flexible panel is Samsung Display’s exclusive product for Samsung’s mobile division, but the company plans to sell 1 million such panels on the open market this year.

According to reports, many Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as OPPO and vivo are cooperating with Samsung and plan to ship devices equipped with foldable screens in the second half of 2021.

It is understood that so far, Samsung Display has only provided foldable display panels to Samsung Electronics for Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip mobile phones. In the past few years, Samsung Display has also been trying to sign contracts with other buyers, but failed to proceed as planned.

Currently, Samsung Display is the only company that uses ultra-thin glass (UTG) in foldable displays, which makes it a leader in this field. There were reports in November last year that BOE also planned to use UTG in its foldable screens.

It is estimated that Samsung Display will produce more than 10 million foldable display panels this year. Among them, about 1 million are provided to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, while the remaining part is still provided to Samsung Electronics. Among the approximately 1 million foldable display panels provided to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, horizontal folding screens are expected to account for 260,000, while vertical folding screens account for approximately 800,000.

Analysts said that Samsung Display’s supply to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers indicates that Samsung Electronics’ exclusive period for foldable display technology is coming to an end.