South Korean component maker Fine M-Tec has been approved by Samsung as a backup supplier of hinges for the Galaxy Z Flip foldable phones, TheElec has learned.
However, the company is yet to receive the approval to supply hinges for the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 6, sources said.
Fine M-Tec is yet to make any meaningful revenue from its hinge business, which accounted for 0.1% of its annual revenue of 380 billion won last year.
The company has spent 30 billion won to build hinge production facilities and is hoping revenue will reach 10% of its total annual revenue.
Samsung has used KH Vatec as its main supplier for hinges on its foldable phones.
China’s Huanli Intelligent Tech is also making overtures to the South Korean tech giant by offering hinges at 10% to 15% lower prices than KH Vatec.
Like Fine M-Tec, Huanli’s main aim is also the Galaxy Z Flip 6. The Flip series sells more units than the Fold series generally by seven to three.
S-Connect is another hinge supplier but the company provides hinges mostly for legacy foldable phones.
Meanwhile, Fine M-Tec has been the exclusive supplier of metal plates that are used to support the display on Samsung’s Flip series.
These plates are also used in conventional smartphones but those used in foldable phones require additional etching to be made to support the hinge and panel.
For the Fold series, Samsung has used carbon fiber reinforced plastic plates since Z Fold 3 in 2021. This was done to support S Pen as using a metal plate can disrupt the stylus’ signal.
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