Samsung to stick with its own display wing after BOE fails quality test

By Michael Allison
last updated

Galaxy S20
Galaxy S20 (Image credit: Andrew Martonik / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • Samsung was said to be using displays from the Chinese firm BOE for its upcoming Galaxy S21 to reduce costs.
  • New reports indicate that it would no longer be doing so.
  • BOE's displays failed Samsung's own internal quality tests, meaning the company could return to using its own displays.

There's one thing Samsung's phones are known for, and that's their generally excellent displays that win praise after praise from reviewers and companies like DisplayMate. An earlier report this year indicated that Samsung was going to switch its suppliers from its homegrown Samsung Display wing to the Chinese firm, BOE. The report came from the South Korean market research firm DSCC (via ZD Net Korea). Now, Samsung may likely no longer do so.

A South Korean Outlet, DDaily (via Android Authority), reported this week BOE's displays failed Samsung's tests. It would have been adopted on Samsung's upcoming S21 after passing the quality and then mass production tests, but BOE was unable to pass even the first one. DDaily reports that BOE intends to fix the issue and try again, but displays analyst Says that Samsung is likely to return to Samsung Display.

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BOE is known for its LCD displays, supplying companies like Apple. When it comes to OLED, it ranks behind Samsung and LG's Display wings even as it hopes to secure a deal with Apple for the upcoming iPhone 12. If it had managed to secure a deal for the Galaxy S21, it would have been a boon for the BOE's OLED business.

The cost savings from the cheaper display may also have allowed Samsung greater flexibility in pricing on to buyers by keeping the price of the flagship stable or even dropping it as Apple did.

Michael Allison
Michael Allison
5 Comments
  • Maybe it's me but that seems dumb af. Why switch when you make some of the best displays on the market? I'm sure there's a reason, but IMO, stay in house and control your quality.
  • The article says right up front, to reduce cost.
  • Obvious it's to reduce cost. There's always something more than just cost. Since when has Samsung ever cared about reducing cost for their flagship phones. That's what they have the A series phone.
  • Ranks behind even LG phone displays? No thanks. You know they'd still charge $1k+ for the phone. They could essentially include the Samsung displays at cost to reduce price if they wanted and still make money on their phones and that would be cheaper than using any 3rd party. I do not believe for a second they would reduce the price of their phones.
  • Exactly. Nothing about this is to reduce cost.