South Korea’s Samsung Display Co. received a go-ahead from the U.S. government to supply panels to Huawei Technologies Co., the first Korean entity to gain clearance since Washington required all suppliers to the Chinese company built on any U.S. technology to apply for prior approval.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently okayed Samsung Display to ship selective organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays for smartphones to Huawei, according to multiple industry sources on Tuesday.

Citing national security reasons, the U.S. government last month imposed sanctions against Huawei that ban both U.S. and foreign companies from supplying components made with U.S. technology to Huawei without prior approval from the U.S. government.

OLED panels that Samsung Display and LG Display supply to Huawei use British chip designer Arm`s architecture designed based on U.S technology, making them subject to U.S. scrutiny to sell products to the Chinese company.

Samsung Display reportedly was able to gain the approval because it applied before Washington’s new export curbs against Huawei took effect on Sept 15.

The exceptions have not been granted to another Korean panel maker LG Display Co. that applied for a license after the restrictions as well as chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc.

Display panel exports may worry about the U.S. authorities less. Huawei can secure display supplies from BOE Technology Group and other Chinese makers. Prior to Samsung Display, Intel had received the green light to supply laptop and server processors to Huawei, and another American chipmaker AMD to continue selling chips.

But whether Samsung Display may be able to keep up the supply remains to seen as Huawei would be restricted in turning out high-end phones without chips from outside.

Last year, Samsung Display sold 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) worth of display panels to Huawei, 8.1 percent of its total sales. LG Display sold 235 billion won worth to the Chinese firm, about 1 percent of its sales.

By Noh Hyun and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]