Samsung to supply LCD screens for Nokia phones

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co will start supplying liquid crystal display screens to Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, news reports said on Friday.

Samsung will start selling them as early as the second half of this year and is expected to initially provide more than 20 million units a year, the Electronic Times said, citing an unidentified Samsung official.

Last year alone, Samsung sold 92 million small-sized LCDs. Under the new deal, Samsung may increase its annual output by an additional 50 million units, the report said.

The move comes as Nokia tries to diversify its suppliers beyond Japan and as Samsung tries to fend off rival panel makers in Asia, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Samsung spokeswoman Lee Soo-jeong could not immediately comment on the reports and said she was looking into them. Kim Ji-won, marketing director of Nokia's Seoul office, said he did not have any information about such a tie up.

Samsung, which competes directly against Nokia in the global mobile phone handset market, would be one of several Nokia suppliers of LCDs, including Japan's Sharp Corp., the Electronic Times said.