A component display dispute between HTC and Samsung led the struggling Taiwanese vendor to discover that “supply chain management can be a competitive edge”, Focus Taiwan reported.

According to the paper, Jack Tong, president of HTC North Asia, revealed that Samsung “strategically declined” to supply AMOLED displays to its rival, after the launch of the HTC Desire smartphone in 2010.

This handset used a Samsung-sourced screen, and was “welcomed by global consumers and telecoms operators at the time”, the paper said.

Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that HTC has been struggling to manage its component supply chain, as falling device volumes has meant decreased orders – meaning it is no longer seen as a “tier-one” customer.

This caused delays to its flagship One smartphone, which is crucial for the company to regain some momentum in the premium smartphone space.

The company also got caught up in a legal dispute between Nokia and component supplier STMicroelectronics, having purchased (in good faith) components which include technology developed by Nokia and STMicro solely for use in the Finnish vendor’s products.

The paper said that Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said in January that it hoped to create a “mobile handset industry chain” in the market, as a way of helping device makers based there cut costs.

This also included courting foreign display manufacturers to move to the country, with no progress announced to this end so far.