Samsung Electronics has its own display manufacturing unit.
South Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd will start supplying high-end TV panels to Samsung Electronic Co Ltd as early as this quarter, three sources said, in a deal that will help the loss-making flatscreen maker turn profitable.
South Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd will begin supplying high-end TV panels to Samsung Electronic Co Ltd as early as this quarter, three sources said, in a deal that could help turn the loss-making flat screen maker profitable. Will do
LG Display aims to supply 2 million units next year and increase shipments to 3 million and 5 million units in subsequent years, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The initial supply to Samsung will be of 77-inch and 83-inch white OLED (WOLED) TV panels.
For Samsung, the deal highlights what it’s looking like to expand into high-end organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs as competition heats up in the lower end with Chinese vendors. OLED panels cost about five times more than liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels.
With the deal, Samsung could overtake Sony Corp as the second largest supplier of OLED TVs worldwide.
Analysts speculated that LG Display was in talks to supply OLED TV panels to a new customer. Reuters first reported the deal with Samsung Electronics.
All the sources declined to be named because the deal is not public.
LG Display and Samsung Electronics both declined to comment.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest TV maker, has been slower to embrace OLED TVs than its hometown rival LG Electronics Inc, arguing that the technology is more suited to smaller devices like smartphones and tablets, partly Due to the high cost of the panels.
For LG Display, the shipment of 2 million OLED panels will be a big boost, worth at least $1.5 billion and accounting for about 20%-30% of its total manufacturing capacity for large-size OLED panels, which will allow it to operate at full capacity. Will take till analysts.
The company is running its OLED factory below full capacity due to a limited customer base and a slump in pandemic-induced demand for new TVs amid rising inflation and a slowing economy.
LG Display supplies OLED TV panels to LG Electronics and Sony. It also supplies smartphone displays to Apple Inc.
Samsung Electronics has its own display-making unit, Samsung Display, which focuses on OLED screens for mobile phones made by Apple and Samsung.
According to market research firm Omdia, Samsung currently has 6.1% market share in OLED TVs, with LG Electronics close behind at 54.6% and Sony at 26.1%.
According to Omdia, the market is expected to grow by about 6 percent to $11.7 billion this year and $12.9 billion by 2027.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
