Samsung to Use Sony Batteries in Galaxy S8 Phone – WSJ (Feb 17, 2017)
The fallout from the Note7 recall continues: Samsung is apparently adding another battery supplier to its roster, though Sony’s capacity is so small that it will likely be by far the smallest by volume. None of this guarantees anything – the Note7 had problems because both battery suppliers produced faulty batteries and because Samsung’s design put pressure on those batteries. Given that those same two suppliers will be making most of the batteries used for the S8, and Samsung of course will still be designing it, what those three companies do differently is far more important than adding another minority battery supplier. As such, I suspect this is probably better read as an attempt by Samsung to exert some pressure on its existing suppliers by demonstrating a willingness to look elsewhere than any sort of strategy to ensure safer batteries in the S8. In that way, this is analogous to Apple’s recent move to give Intel some of its iPhone modem business. But all this also highlights the difficulties in shifting suppliers at such scale – neither Apple nor Samsung can suddenly switch suppliers at this volume, and even if they could the new vendors often underperform relative to the incumbents (as here with Sony’s batteries and also with Intel’s modems).
via WSJ
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