Apple ‘is not satisfied’ with Samsung because of the screen: employees were prevented from visiting the factory in Vietnam, being ‘forced’ to receive hundreds of thousands of screens even though they did not want to

‘Face-to-face’ relationship

Apple has been quietly developing microLED technology for the Apple Watch and other products. However, Apple engineers found that the display technology faced many challenges and barriers that made it difficult for them to ensure the commercial roadmap as expected. They are forced to maintain a relationship with Samsung while waiting for microLED to complete. This is a “face but not content” relationship between the two leading smartphone brands.

Samsung has no trust in Apple and is always wary of ‘Apple’ employees to protect its production technologies. As many former Apple employees have confirmed, they are prohibited from accessing the depths of Samsung’s factory.

During an incident in 2017, an Apple engineer flew to South Korea to meet with employees of Samsung’s display division, preparing for the launch of the iPhone X, the first generation to switch to OLED. However, they are not allowed to enter Samsung premises, including the office building, because the company wants to protect its intellectual property over OLED screen technology.

In another time, an Apple security employee was hindered by Samsung from working at a factory assembling screen components for iPhone X located in Vietnam. After that, the two companies reached an agreement to let employees go through the building but not stop to check around.

Or the fact that Samsung also refused to ask Apple to clean the iPhone 14 Pro screen dust. Because there are chips and residues generated during the oval hole cutting process for the camera assembly. Samsung often tries to solve defect problems on its own, instead of discussing it with Apple.

Because it is not allowed to dig deep, Apple cannot grasp how Samsung fixes iPhone screen errors. They only have to do more rigorous quality control than the product development process.

Reducing dependency is not easy

Interviews and internal documents have shown that Apple has not had much success in getting rid of Samsung.

As revealed by many former employees, Apple once announced to reduce the demand for MacBook screens, but Samsung still tried to force the company to receive hundreds of thousands of screen units. In relation to other partners, it is the manufacturer who takes on more of the financial risk of storing excess parts.

Apple has tried to work with Samsung’s rivals LG and BOE. However, most OLED screens for iPhones are still provided by Samsung, especially 120Hz screens. Specifically, LG tried to provide OLED panels for some iPhone 12 and 13 models, but did not meet Apple’s standards. So, in the long run, Apple still wants to be autonomous in screen technology, starting with the Apple Watch in 2024 or 2025 will switch to microLED.

According to Macrumors, the company’s relationship with Samsung is skewed towards the Korean display company. The company doesn’t really trust Apple, refusing to answer questions when Apple wants to learn more about its technology. However, the OLED iPhone will still have to depend on Samsung for a long time.

Reference: Apple Insider