Samsung Display is not the provider of small, flexible panels intended in Huawei’s next foldable smartphone. According to a new report from the Far East, Huawei and Samsung at least had a gentlemen’s agreement on the matter, but their cooperation was stopped in its tracks shortly afterwards.
The roadblock they encountered probably had something to do with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the perpetual intention to impose a number of trade sanctions against Huawei early last year.
Wait, did the US not approve this agreement in October?
This was hardly the beginning of Huawei’s problems with Washington. Not to mention that this development probably gave other Samsung divisions more reasons for celebrations than Samsung Display itself would have had if the outcome had been different.
And while the conclusion of this story is not particularly surprising, it was only a few months back for sure. This is because Samsung’s foldable display technology is largely independent of US intellectual property. In fact, the US apparently approved this particular agreement in October.
Still, Huawei has opted for a last-minute change in the provider, according to this latest report. The Mate X2, which is expected to be launched at the end of February, will therefore make use of foldable displays from BOE, China’s most successful display manufacturer and one of Samsung’s biggest competitors in the segment. Given the broader context of the situation, Huawei probably wanted to avoid starting another optional relationship with a foreign supplier that could take away the US at will, especially when the entity happens to be its biggest global competitor in consumer electronics.
Nevertheless, it was definitely a disappointing turnaround for Samsung Display. It is unlikely that this will be considered for a long time, due to all the money that is expected to be earned this year.