A supply chain leak pointing to a quiet but telling decision inside Samsung’s Galaxy A18 development pipeline.

The company has reportedly reverted to the older Chip-on-Glass method for mounting display driver ICs onto the panel substrate, walking back an earlier plan to use the more advanced Chip-on-Film approach.

CoF mounting generally allows for thinner bezels and better display flexibility.

Samsung used CoG on the Galaxy A17, the A18’s direct predecessor, and at some point this year someone apparently decided the upgrade wasn’t worth the bill. The A18 is an entry-level phone, sure, but millions of units will ship every month.

Wonik D2I is in discussions with Samsung Display to land the A18 contract. The company just announced its first-ever mass production shipment of OLED panel DDIs, believed to have gone to a Sharp device through Samsung Display.

Here’s the complication: integrating a timing controller into a single-chip DDI solution, the format Samsung Display’s supply chain calls a TED, is technically demanding. Analysts aren’t convinced Wonik D2I is ready for that yet.

Samsung’s established DDI suppliers include Samsung System LSI, DB HiTek, Anapass, and Novatek. DB HiTek currently handles the A17; getting displaced there won’t happen quietly.

The Korean tech giant is betting its cheapest new phone on a supplier whose biggest flex right now is a Sharp model nobody’s talking about.

The post Samsung’s Galaxy A18 is already cutting corners before it launches appeared first on Sammy Fans.