Ever since Huawei was placed on the U.S. Commerce Department's "Entity List" last year, the Chinese smartphone giant just can't seem to catch a break. The latest in a string of blows comes from South Korean display manufacturers — Samsung Display and LG Display — who are expected to stop supplying panels for Huawei's flagships due to U.S. restrictions.

The U.S. administration recently tightened restrictions against Huawei and announced a new license requirement for all parties who wish to conduct business with the company. The new restrictions take effect on September 15th, after which companies who don't have the required license will stop supplying components to Huawei. While some companies like Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek have already applied for the new license, South Korean publication Chosun Biz reports that both Samsung Display and LG Display will stop supplying panels to Huawei once the restrictions go into effect.

In a statement to Reuters, LG Display said that the U.S. restrictions will have a minimal impact on the company as it supplies a limited number of panels to Huawei. Samsung Display, on the other hand, declined to comment on the matter.

For the unaware, Huawei sources display panels from several manufacturers. These include the aforementioned South Korean manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers BOE and CSOT. While a vast majority of the displays on Huawei devices come from Chinese manufacturers, the company is known for using OLED panels from Samsung Display on its premium devices. For instance, the Huawei P40 Pro+ exclusively used Samsung's OLED screens, the P40 Pro used screens from BOE, LG Display, and Samsung Display, and the older P30 series used OLED panels from Samsung Display. This means that while Huawei will still be able to source OLED screens from its Chinese partners, its next-gen flagships might not feature the highest-quality OLED panels out there.


Via: Reuters