Samsung Electronics' flagship models, the Galaxy S9 series, is said to use - for the first time - optical parts made by Chinese Sunny Optical.

Korean etnews.com reports that the Galaxy S9 id equipped with contains Sunny Optical's lenses. If it's true, it shows that the Chinese smartphone parts are gradually gaining a competitive edge over parts traditionally made by Japanese or South Korean companies.

Samsung's flagship smartphones have been using lenses from South Korean companies such as Kolen, Sekonix, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Sunny Optical, China's biggest Chinese optical part manufacturer, manufactures lenses, camera modules, microscopes, and measuring equipment. The company's clients include smartphone makers Huawei, OPPO, and VIVO.

According to iResearch and Hana Financial Investment, Sunny Optical's market share in global market was 8% in 2015 followed by LG Innotek, Sharp, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Chinese Smartphone part makers are supplying various parts to Smartphone manufacturers. It is rumored that Chinese O-film, which manufacturers touchscreen, camera modules, and fingerprint recognition modules, has recently signed a contract with Apple.