Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Samsung’s mobile boss apparently made two trips to the US to secure more chipset volume.
- It is alleged that an unnamed global chip maker rejected Samsung’s request.
Now, The Elec The situation for Samsung reportedly got so bad that cellular chief TM Roh made two trips to the US earlier this year to ask an unnamed global chip maker (presumably Qualcomm) for more processors. Sources told the point of sale that Roh made a trip in March and another in July to request more chips, but it is alleged that Roh’s request was denied.
“The global manufacturer of application processors had told the president of Samsung that he would also like to increase the total offer, but cannot increase the offer to the South Korean technology giant on his own,” wrote the outlet.
Read more: Everything you need to know about Samsung phones
The Elec‘s sources went on to claim that during the second trip, Roh was accompanied by a vice president who was in charge of overseeing component purchasing. The vice president is believed to have been told not to return to South Korea until the situation has been resolved. The executive is said to have returned after three months in the US. It was also alleged that Roh “harshly” reprimanded another executive who was involved in component purchases.
The sources added that it was “very unusual” for Samsung’s application to be denied because of its size in the industry. However, they pointed to Samsung’s increasing reliance on ODMs for some phone lines as the reason for the weakened purchasing power as these contract phone manufacturers typically source their own components.
A company representative told the point of sale that the trips were not fruitless and said that it helped Samsung secure “some” volume.
Either way, the global chip shortage shows that even a top company like Samsung cannot pull favors from large chip manufacturers. And it suggests that there could be more to the rumors about the delayed or possibly canceled launch of the Galaxy S21 FE. Things couldn’t get any easier in 2022 at first, as AMD CEO Lisa Su reportedly said the shortage won’t ease until the second half of 2022.