Order the King of Android! Get your Galaxy S25 Ultra today! Follow us on Google news!

SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn a commission.

News For You
News For You
Notifications

Galaxy S21 could ditch Samsung displays for cheaper Chinese OLEDs

Phone
By 

Last updated: May 20th, 2020 at 13:06 UTC+02:00

The next generation of Galaxy S smartphones could ditch Samsung's own displays in favor of cheaper Chinese OLEDs – at least partially. Following almost a full month's worth of preliminary negotiations with BOE, Samsung Electronics today sent an official request for quotation to the Beijing-based manufacturer, industry insiders claim. The timing of the move coincides with the current development status of Samsung's 2021 flagships which may be marketed as the Galaxy S21 series. Namely, quote requisition applications in the smartphone industry are usually sent out about half a year prior to trial production runs.

Sources close to the company claim Samsung only intends to rely on BOE for a portion of the Galaxy S21 range. While it's unclear whether the lineup will once again feature three distinct models, there's seemingly no chance for next year's Galaxy S20 Ultra follow-up to feature a BOE display. That's because the Chinese OLED panels Samsung wants to order aren't intended to support 120Hz refresh rates, a key selling point of the current flagship generation.

Base Galaxy S21 model may miss out on 120Hz refresh rate

Instead, the quotation request sent to BOE only concerns a 90Hz product specification, Korean insiders claim. Samsung has already been working on this compromise solution for some time now, much like its rivals in the smartphone space. A quotation request has been sent for 120Hz and 60Hz panels to Samsung Display as well.

The lower end of the Galaxy S21 range may hence miss out on a key display feature supported by the entirety of the previous handset generation. That potential discrepancy appears vaguely similar to how the base Galaxy Note 10 model delivered a resolution downgrade compared to its 2018 predecessor. Samsung Display will still supply 120Hz-ready OLEDs for the Galaxy S21, as per the same source.

All things considered, it appears Samsung's global OLED dominance is finally plateauing as its display operations are now even losing out on business from sister companies. The Galaxy S21's partial shift toward BOE is almost certainly meant to reduce manufacturing costs of the next-gen Android flagships, something Samsung now deems imperative given the current mobile market instabilities.

Some industry insiders also view this as a move from Samsung Electronics to try and get Samsung Display to lower panel prices. The threat of having some orders being replaced by BOE just might work and the company may not resort to sourcing the OLEDs from China. If this is indeed a bluff and Samsung Display decides to call it, then we may get the first Samsung flagship with a Chinese OLED screen next year.

Phone Galaxy S21
Galaxy AI summarized

Scroll for more related content
News For You

You might also like

Say goodbye to monthly updates on your Galaxy S21, S21+, or S21 Ultra

Say goodbye to monthly updates on your Galaxy S21, S21+, or S21 Ultra

Samsung has downgraded the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra to a quarterly security update schedule. The Galaxy S21 series launched in January 2021, so it has enjoyed monthly updates for four years. Going forward, for at least a year, Samsung will release a security update for the original Galaxy S21 trio once […]

  • By Abhijeet Mishra
  • 2 weeks ago
Galaxy S21 is getting January 2025 security update

Galaxy S21 is getting January 2025 security update

Samsung’s flagship smartphones from 2021, the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra are getting a new software update, and it brings the January 2025 security patch to these devices, making them more secure than before. The South Korean tech giant has released the update for the carrier-locked variants of the three devices, which […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 1 month ago
Koreans can easily sell their old Galaxy phones on Samsung’s website

Koreans can easily sell their old Galaxy phones on Samsung’s website

Samsung has announced the ‘Galaxy Easy Compensation' program in South Korea. It is a program that lets people easily sell their old and used Galaxy phones directly on Samsung's website. People don't need to buy a new phone while selling the older one. Galaxy Easy Compensation program lets people sell old/used Galaxy phones The Galaxy […]

  • By Asif Iqbal Shaik
  • 1 month ago
When we expect your Galaxy phone to get One UI 7 (Android 15)

When we expect your Galaxy phone to get One UI 7 (Android 15)

At this point in time, not even Samsung might be sure when it will be ready to release the stable One UI 7 update for devices other than the Galaxy S25. The upcoming flagship series is expected to run One UI 7 out of the box, but what about older Galaxy devices? When will they […]

  • By Mihai Matei
  • 1 month ago
New One UI 7 beta program rumor will make a lot of people unhappy

New One UI 7 beta program rumor will make a lot of people unhappy

A new rumor suggests Samsung will keep the Android 15/One UI 7 beta program exclusive to the Galaxy S24 lineup. Samsung will reportedly go straight to the release of the stable version in the first two weeks of February for other devices. According to X user @FamilyTaes, who previously leaked a roadmap for the One UI […]

  • By Abhijeet Mishra
  • 2 months ago
Galaxy S21’s December 2024 security update rolls out to more variants

Galaxy S21’s December 2024 security update rolls out to more variants

Yesterday, Samsung released a software update to the carrier-locked variants of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, for the United States. It offered the December 2024 security patch that fixes several security issues present in the previous software. Galaxy S21 December 2024 update available more widely Now, the South Korean tech giant […]

  • By Abid Iqbal Shaik
  • 2 months ago