Samsung Electronics has chosen South Korean speaker maker EM-Tech as the supplier of speakers for the Galaxy Note20 series and Galaxy S20 FE.
EM-Tech’s factories in Vietnam were at full operation for the supply, people familiar with the matter said.
The company installed multiple hot-melt polyurethane bond applicators at its Vietnam factory mid-year to produce the smartphones speakers. The equipment are used to attach thermo plastic elastomer for the high-end speakers. EM-Tech used stage equipment from Musashi of Japan and jetting valve from Gao Kai of China. Polyurethane bonds are supplied by Weldbond of China.
Samsung Electronics has previously secured high-end speakers made out of thermo plastic elastomer by Goretek and AAC of China. People familiar with the matter said EM-Tech took most of the orders this time around and Samsung has reduced order from its Chinese suppliers.
EM-Tech has previously supplied speakers made out of polyetheretherketone for Samsung. They are of lower performance compared to speakers made out of thermo plastic elastomer.
EM-Tech was included in Samsung’s suppliers list for the Galaxy S20 series. The original plan was that Samsung would began using EM-Tech’s speakers once it spend all the volume supplied by Goretek. However, the Galaxy S20 series sold less than expected and Samsung didn’t order more from EM-Tech.
Samsung is planning to produce 10 million units each of the Galaxy Note20 series and Galaxy S20 FE. Last month it held an Unpacked event for the Note20 series and just this week it held another Unpacked for Galaxy S20 FE.
Component suppliers for Samsung’s smartphones were doing well at the time, an EM-Tech spokesperson said. They declined to comment on its supply deal with Samsung.
