Samsung receives approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce to continue supplying OLED panels to Huawei

CINNO Research Industry News, Samsung Display obtained an export license from the US Department of Commerce to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels to Huawei. Since the United States began to impose further sanctions on Huawei on the 15th of last month, among South Korean companies, Samsung Display has taken the lead in obtaining export licenses.

According to a report by Korean media Zdnet and South Korean Economy on October 27, according to display industry news, Samsung Display obtained an export license from the US government to supply OLED panels to Huawei last week. It is reported that on September 15, after the United States imposed additional sanctions on Huawei, Samsung Display became the first manufacturer in the South Korean display industry to receive export license applications.

A related person in the display industry said: “Samsung Display and LG Display both applied to the United States for an export license to Huawei, and after a little more than a month, they obtained a supply approval decision.” The reason why the export license approval of the display was first issued, although there is an earlier application time, is also because Samsung Display has the highest proportion of Huawei's OLED panel supply (Samsung Display 8%, LG Display 1%)".

On the other hand, the US Department of Commerce has previously taken measures to prohibit all semiconductors produced in the US and third countries that use US technology and equipment to be exported to Huawei and related companies without the approval of the US government. Due to the aforementioned export control measures, major Korean electronic component manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, including Samsung Display and LG Display, immediately submitted applications for export licenses to the US government.

According to industry insiders, the core of the US sanctions against Huawei is semiconductors. Because there are multiple panel suppliers for displays and they are not directly regulated, they will easily issue licenses.

However, if Huawei cannot buy the necessary memory semiconductors when manufacturing smartphones, it is still unknown whether it will purchase Samsung Display panels in the future.

Analysis believes that unless the US semiconductor sanctions are fully liberalized, it will be difficult for Huawei's smartphone business to resume even if panels can be imported.

In addition, some analysts said that, like the authorization granted by Samsung Display this time, the United States has recently gradually relaxed sanctions on components other than semiconductors for 5G smartphones.

Prior to this, Intel and AMD also stated that they have been approved to supply Huawei with central processing unit (CPU)-based products such as PCs or servers.