Samsung could replace a key Galaxy S27 component to cut costs

The Galaxy S27 lineup is still many months away from its release window, but we have already started hearing early rumors about its components and features. It was recently reported that it will contain four models: the base S27, the S27 Plus, the S27 Ultra, and the all-new S27 Pro. Now, a new report suggests that Samsung could swap out an important part of its upcoming S line phones to do some cost-cutting.

An important display component could get replaced

Before I get into the main story, it's important for you to understand what a DDI stands for. DDI, aka Display Driver IC, is a small but important part that does the job of a middleman between your smartphone's processor and its display panel. It basically interprets the display data from your smartphone's processor and dictates its exact details, including its color, brightness, and more, to your device's screen.

While this thing is very small and invisible to users, it plays a critical role on any phone. In the Galaxy S and Z lineups, Samsung uses its in-house DDIs supplied by the System LSI division. However, Korean publication ZDNet reports that this might not be the case with the upcoming Galaxy S27 series.

According to the post, the Samsung MX division, which is responsible for manufacturing smartphones, is thinking about swapping the in-house DDIs with third-party DDIs in the vanilla S27 and the S27 Plus. The Ultra model and the new Pro option would reportedly continue to use the DDIs supplied by Samsung's own System LSI division.

But why?

If you are aware of the current condition of the tech industry, you might have already guessed the reason that led Samsung to give this strategy a thought. The tech giant is reportedly thinking of relying on third-party suppliers to save some money. You see, the price of components, especially memory chips used in tech products like smartphones, has been rising rapidly in recent times.

The reason behind this is the ongoing AI revolution. There's currently a very high demand for items like DRAM, HBM, and NAND, but unfortunately their supply is very limited. And you must have learned in your economics classes that a product's price rises rapidly if its demand is more than its available supply.

The high cost of DRAM has put a lot of pressure on smartphone manufacturers like Samsung, especially on their profit margins. That's the reason why they are now looking to diversify the supply chain of their product components to cut costs wherever possible. The decision to switch to third-party DDI suppliers is reported to be an outcome of that only.

That said, the ZDNET report further mentions that the South Korean giant is evaluating suppliers like Anapass, DB Global Chip, Wonik D2I, and Novatek. While the first three are from the company's own nation, Novatek is a Taiwan-based firm. The MX division will reportedly first compare the quality and performance of third-party DDIs with its in-house DDIs before making a final decision on which, or even if any, of these firms grabs the deal.

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