It was first reported a couple of months ago that Samsung had the Galaxy M41 in development. This handset would have been the sequel to the Galaxy M40 that was released last year. However, an interesting rumor has floated about the upcoming device.
The OLED panels in Samsung's smartphones are supplied by Samsung Display. It was said that the Galaxy M41 would be the first Samsung smartphone with an OLED panel sourced from a third-party. TCL’s China Star Optoelectronics Technology was believed to be supplying panels for this device. Samsung has now reportedly given up on the idea and has thus decided to discontinue the development of the Galaxy M41.
Galaxy M41 discontinued in favor of the Galaxy M51
According to a report out of South Korea, Samsung has stopped work on the Galaxy M41 which was slated to use an OLED display panel from China Star Optoelectronics Technology. The report goes on to mention that the company has decided to release the Galaxy M51 instead.
We exclusively reported last month that the Galaxy M51 is now in development. Details about its specs are limited right now but we suspect that it's going basically going to be a rebranded Galaxy A51 with a few design and hardware changes. This device will follow the same strategy as the Galaxy M30s which shared many of its internals with the Galaxy A50s.
Samsung considered Chinese panels for the Galaxy M51 as well but they were unable to meet the quality requirements which is why the panels will be sourced from Samsung Display. Recent reports have suggested that Samsung is looking to source Chinese panels for its smartphones as it wants to reduce costs.
This was said to be a possibility for the Galaxy S21 as well but Samsung is already believed to have given up on that idea as BOE's panels weren't as good as the ones from Samsung Display.