iQOO and Samsung Display Deepened Partnership
The smartphone brand will co-develop display technologies with Samsung to differentiate future hardware releases.
Updated on Sept. 18, 2026 in Consumer Electronics
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Performance-focused smartphone brand iQOO has expanded its strategic cooperation with Samsung Display. The partnership focuses on jointly defining display problems and engineering new solutions for future device form factors over a three-to-five-year development horizon.
Why it matters
As hardware in the handset industry becomes increasingly homogenized, Chinese manufacturers like iQOO are prioritizing custom display technology to create product differentiation. This collaboration aims to integrate specialized components into future models following the current use of M16 emitting material.
Current iQOO 16 models utilize a 2K 165Hz panel featuring M16 emitting material. The company typically follows an 18-to-20-month development cycle for product definition before hardware hits the market.
The players
iQOO
A performance-focused smartphone brand and subsidiary of Vivo that launched in 2019.
Samsung Display
A subsidiary of Samsung Electronics that manufactures display panels and is headquartered in South Korea.
The details
The collaboration involves a two-to-three-year mid- and long-term technology roadmap where engineers from both companies define display challenges together. By co-designing the stack—the layered architecture of display emitting materials and pixel control circuitry—iQOO intends to move beyond off-the-shelf components. Samsung Display provides the manufacturing infrastructure at its South Korea headquarters to test these custom specifications.
Timeline
2019: iQOO was launched as a performance-focused brand of Vivo.
Next 3 to 5 years: Key display developments from the partnership are expected to arrive.
2026: Global smartphone panel shipments are projected to reach 2.25 billion units.
The Tech Race
The iQOO-Samsung partnership follows the pattern of display manufacturers securing long-term R&D agreements to capture a segment of the growing AMOLED market. This move aligns with broader industry data projecting that AMOLED panels will represent 41 percent of all smartphone shipments by 2026.
Consumers can expect to see the results of this joint R&D in upcoming device form factors over the next three to five years. These displays will likely build upon the 2K 165Hz resolution standards currently found in the iQOO 16, though specific pricing and launch dates remain unannounced.
The takeaway
This partnership signifies a shift where phone makers move from being simple component buyers to active co-developers in the display stack. Users should watch for future hardware announcements featuring new panel structures over the next three to five years as this roadmap progresses.
Further reading
For more on the current state of mobile hardware, visit Consumer Electronics.
Source note: This article includes information reported by China Daily.
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