More Samsung Galaxy A smartphones to get wireless charging 

Samsung Electronics is planning to expand applying wireless power charging to more models in its Galaxy A series of smartphones, people familiar with the matter told TheElec Monday.

The feature was mostly reserved for flagship smartphones such as Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones up until then.

The decisino was made to strengthen the competence of its mid-tier line-up going forward as flagship smartphone sales suffered from market contraction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the people said.

Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A70 smartphones that are performing well in the market will likely get the feature, they said. Their 2021-models that will launch in the fourth quarter of the year will be the prime candidates, they added.

Among Samsung’s primary suppliers for wireless charging modules, Hansol Technics will be on top of the list to win the order for the new modules, the people also said. Hansol will likely be the sole vendor for the first one to two months when mass production for the modules begin. 

However, Hansol will need to focus on price negotiations as Samsung will likely ask for a more favorable unit price compared to the Galaxy S20 series as the modules will be used for mid-tier smartphones that the South Korean tech giant will want to be more cost conscious in, the people said.

Amotech and Chemtronics, which also supplies wireless charging modules, will likely follow Hansol as vendors afterwards based on the initially negotiated price.

The expanded order for wireless charging modules from Samsung will be a much needed boon for these vendors as they have saw their revenues drop from poor sales of the Galaxy S20 series and the South Korean tech giant’s on-going cost cutting efforts.

Hansol has supplied the modules for the Galaxy S20 Ultra, while Amotech supplied those for Galaxy S20 Plus and Chemtronics provided those for Galaxy S20.

Samsung currently offers wireless power charging, Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST, used in Samsung Pay) in one antenna-type module on its smartphones. It either combines all three modules into one antenna or choose two of the modules for one antenna, depending on the smartphone.