A quiet handshake at a Seoul headquarters this month could reshape where the screens inside your next Samsung TV or Galaxy phone come from.
BOE Technology Group chairman Chen Yanshun paid a rare visit to Samsung Electronics’ offices and met with senior figures including TM Roh and Yong Seok-woo, according to industry reports. The purpose was straightforward on its face: reopen strategic discussions about supplying both large LCD panels for Samsung TVs and small OLED panels for smartphones — including potentially higher-end Galaxy models.
Why this matters now
The meeting is notable because it follows a bruising legal battle. Samsung Display accused BOE of using stolen OLED know‑how; the US International Trade Commission responded with a limited exclusion order that would have blocked some BOE OLED imports for roughly 14 years and 8 months. The two sides later reached a settlement, reportedly involving undisclosed royalties from BOE to Samsung Display. That détente appears to have cleared the way for new commercial talks.
For Samsung, the calculus is pragmatic. Display costs are a big line item in phone and TV margins, and Samsung already leans on Chinese suppliers for volume LCD panels — often from CSOT, the display arm of TCL, which is also a TV rival. Sourcing more from BOE could cut costs and reduce dependency on a direct competitor. For BOE, reopening ties with a global heavyweight like Samsung would accelerate its push beyond China and the domestic clients it currently serves.
What they reportedly discussed
Sources say the conversation covered two clear buckets: a bulk supply of LCD panels for televisions — figures around 10 million panels have been mentioned in reporting — and small OLEDs for mobile devices. BOE has supplied OLEDs to budget Galaxy models in the past and already sells to major Chinese smartphone makers and, selectively, to Apple for certain iPhone models. But the supplier’s access to the U.S. market and partnerships with global brands were constrained by the earlier litigation and related restrictions.
This is not a done deal. Even with a settlement, questions remain about which SKUs BOE could supply (entry-level vs. flagship), whether any U.S. import limits would still apply to parts destined for certain markets, and how Samsung Display — a large internal supplier and competitor — positions itself if Samsung shifts sourcing.
The industry ripple effects
The bigger picture is a display industry remade over the past few years: Korean firms largely exited LCD manufacturing, allowing Chinese manufacturers such as BOE and TCL CSOT to dominate LCD shipments. That consolidation changed bargaining power across the supply chain and forced companies like Samsung to weigh cost, control and competitive exposure.
Bringing a former legal adversary back into the fold has tradeoffs. On the upside, BOE can offer scale and lower prices that help Samsung defend device margins. On the downside, there's reputational risk and the potential of renewed regulatory scrutiny, especially in markets sensitive to IP and national‑security concerns.
What this could mean for Samsung products
If BOE becomes a repeat supplier for higher‑end Galaxy phones, Samsung could lean into price competitiveness while freeing Samsung Display to focus on premium, differentiated panels (foldables, ultra‑high refresh OLEDs, and new form factors). That dynamic would be important as Samsung prepares major product cycles next year — from incremental Galaxy S updates to foldable experiments — and tries to balance cost with cutting‑edge displays. You can see how screen supply choices feed into device strategy when looking at Samsung’s hardware roadmap, including its foldable prototype efforts and upcoming flagship previews like the Galaxy S26 Samsung’s tri‑fold testing and broader Galaxy launches Galaxy S26 preview.
BOE supplying large volumes of TV panels to Samsung would also signal a practical end to the era when Korean makers controlled most mass LCD output; Chinese scale is now the normal state of play for TVs.
Risks and unknowns
- Regulatory hangovers: Even with a settlement, export controls or import bans could limit where BOE panels travel, complicating global rollout plans.
- Quality and compatibility: BOE has improved quickly but past quality concerns — raised in some partner relationships — mean Samsung will have to vet panel performance tightly across color, lifetime, and manufacturing variance.
- Internal politics: Samsung Display still matters strategically and economically to Samsung Electronics; any shift toward BOE must be balanced against preserving in‑house capability and IP protection.
There’s a pragmatic rhythm to the talks: Samsung needs to manage component inflation and diversify suppliers; BOE needs marquee clients to prove it can serve global premium brands. Whether that rhythm becomes a long‑term partnership or a limited, tactical arrangement will depend on contracts, regulatory workarounds and how comfortable both sides feel after the litigation chapter.
Either way, the screens in the next generation of Samsung devices may tell a story not just about tech, but about how commercial rivalries, IP fights and global supply pressures shuffle industry alliances.
For a sense of how Samsung’s product plans and experimental form factors could be shaped by any new supply deals, see Samsung’s foldable prototype testing and the Galaxy S26 preview Samsung’s tri‑fold testing and Galaxy S26 preview.