Foldable displays are widely regarded as the next big thing in the world of smartphones. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, Huawei Mate Xs, and the Moto Razr have already showcased what’s possible with the foldable form factor and how it will shape the way we interact with our smartphones in the future. However, for foldable smartphones to become a mainstream reality, we will need more OEMs to come forth with their own take on this new form factor. Samsung Display is among the leading manufacturers of foldable displays, and as such, it will have a vital role in bringing the next batch of foldable phones to the market.

So far, Samsung Display has only provided its foldable panels to Samsung Electronics, which we have seen on the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip series. But according to a new report from ETNews, Samsung, for the first time, will be supplying foldable panels to Chinese smartphone OEMs this year. The report states that the company aims to ship a total of 1 million foldable displays to Chinese players in 2021. It also quotes an industry insider, who claims that Samsung has been working closely with several Chinese smartphone makers for some time now, and we can expect some of these companies to release a smartphone with a Samsung foldable display later this year. In fact, Samsung began sending samples to various OEMs, including Huawei, two or three years ago. However, due to the US sanctions, the deal with Huawei never materialized.

It's worth noting that Samsung isn't the only foldable display manufacturer, and Chinese display vendors CSOT (owned by TCL) and BOE also make foldable panels. In fact, BOE’s foldable panel has already been featured on the Motorola Razr and Huawei Mate X. But Samsung Display is definitely the best in the business right now, as is evident from the Galaxy Z Fold 2's lead against the competition. It remains to be seen which Chinese OEM will be the first to hit the market with a Samsung foldable panel.

This article was updated on January 29, 2021, at 4:31 PM ET to remove a mention of Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold featuring a BOE-supplied panel. We regret this error.