Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to develop its own foldable glass for foldable phones without relying on its sister company Samsung Display. The report comes from ETNews, a tech publication from South Korea.
For the uninitiated, Samsung Display, the South Korean tech giant’s dedicated display division is responsible for developing glass and panels for Samsung’s foldable phones, say the Galaxy Z Flip’s Ultra-Thin Glass for instance.
Currently, a Korean company named Dowoo Insys manufactures Ultra-Thin glass for Samsung Display from the base material supplied by a German firm called Schott AG. Samsung Display merges the Ultra-Thin Glass with OLED panel and supplies it to Samsung Electronics.
According to the report, Samsung Electronics has contacted various foldable glass manufacturing companies to initiate the process. The whole point of this initiative as per the report is to reduce the manufacturing costs and make the technology more affordable in future iterations.
“Samsung Electronics Mobile Division met with multiple foldable glass manufacturing companies and is looking to work with them. Its intention is to increase production yield compared to process and develop products with improved performance.”, industry sources told ETNews.
If Samsung Electronics succeeds in mass manufacturing foldable glass on its own without depending on Samsung Display, it would also give the company more command over quality control and the supply chain.
Moreover, having an internal foldable display arm would give Samsung Electronics a strategical advantage over competitors as Samsung Display is reportedly planning to supply foldable displays to Huawei and Xiaomi as well.
