One of the things Samsung produces really well is its displays. This is why many companies around the world turn to Samsung for their OLED panels. However, in a strange twist, it looks like Samsung is turning to Chinese-made displays for some of its upcoming low- and mid-range phones.
Samsung turns to Chinese displays for some phones, Galaxy A57 and S26 FE included
According to Korean publication The Elec, Samsung is reportedly turning to Chinese company China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) for displays for its low and mid-range models. This includes the upcoming Galaxy A57 and also the Galaxy S26 FE models.
The report points out that in the past, Samsung usually sourced from within itself for displays for all of its phones. The company wanted to maintain its internal supply chain while ensuring quality remains. But now, the prices offered by CSOT are competitive enough for Samsung to rethink its strategy.
But why switch suppliers?
Like we said, CSOT’s panels are apparently competitive in price to force Samsung to change its strategy. The report claims that CSOT’s panels are at least 20% cheaper than those made by Samsung. Yes, even Samsung makes its own displays; it doesn’t mean it’s “free.”
Also, let’s not forget we’re currently in a memory shortage crisis. The rising demand for AI data centers has resulted in memory makers shifting their priorities. Instead of producing more consumer-focused memory, these companies are making HBMs designed for data centers.
This shortage means that memory prices have increased. So, to offset those increased prices, Samsung has to cut costs elsewhere. In this case, it would be in its displays. Now, to be fair, most people shopping for cheap phones are probably looking at price first before everything else.
Also, just because they’re cheaper doesn’t necessarily mean that CSOT’s displays are worse. Internally, Samsung is said to have fought against this decision. Samsung Display wanted to keep supplying to Samsung Electronics’ MX division, but unfortunately, the company’s higher-ups decided to go ahead with the decision anyway.
Now, the bigger question is whether or not this could eventually affect Samsung’s flagship phones. If CSOT can produce panels at Samsung’s level and quality expectations while being cheaper, who’s to say that future Samsung flagships might not use their panels as well? Only time will tell, but for now, it looks like Samsung’s flagships are safe.
The post Samsung Is Ditching Its Own Displays for Cheaper Chinese Panels on These Galaxy Phones appeared first on Android Headlines.
