As it turns out, Samsung’s newly-launched Galaxy Z Fold8 is a lot more popular than the company anticipated, so much so that it’s now grappling with a supply chain crisis for the phone. A report from ZDNet Korea reveals that high demand has created a shortage of Display Driver ICs (DDIs), and although Samsung is increasing its component orders, the production of the critical display chips has turned into a major supply bottleneck.
As it turns out, the custom DDIs (which are designed by Samsung’s System LSI Division) are manufactured by Taiwan-based foundry UMC with a 22-nanometer process. Unfortunately, UMC’s production capacity for this node has already reached its limit, and the foundry has reportedly declined Samsung’s request to accelerate output, as adjusting schedules would disrupt the manufacturing of other semiconductors currently on the line.
Unlike general-purpose memory chips like DRAM that can be reallocated across different phone models, these DDIs are uniquely customized for the Z Fold 8’s display, making it impossible to substitute parts. To address this, Samsung plans to maintain mass production by tapping into DDI inventory originally secured for next year’s development cycle. This is a necessary stopgap, as a standard “normal run” production cycle takes approximately four months before a finished DDI can be paired with a Samsung Display OLED panel and assembled into a final device.
READ: Apple Teases its Upcoming September Event: Will We Finally See a Folding iPhone?
Additionally, Samsung is also ramping up orders for the Z Fold 8’s hinges and Ultra Thin Glass (UTG). With Apple scheduled to launch its highly-anticipated first-generation foldable soon, it goes without saying that the Korean tech giant’s got some serious competition on its hands this year.