Samsung could get millions of OLED TV panels from LG Display

LG Display is said to be the market leader in the OLED space. It also provides panels to the likes of Hisense, Vizio, and Sony.

Samsung is gradually shifting away from LCD. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko (REUTERS)

Samsung Electronics will order millions of OLED TV panels from rival LG Display, according to reports.

Samsung will reportedly receive about 1 million panels in the second half of this year. It will eventually scale up to 4 million panels next year.

The deal, if finalised, will be the first time Samsung will purchase OLED panels from its rival, according to The Verge. LG is said to be the market leader in the OLED display space. It also provides panels to various TV OEMs such as Hisense, Vizio, and Sony. The company has also continued to expand its display portfolio as its production capacity is estimated to be around 8 million units for this year.

The deal also marks Samsung's gradual departure from the LCDs altogether. The company uses the panels for some of its TV lineups, though. Its QLED screens are also said to be based on the LCD panels.

Interestingly, Samsung last year said it would stop manufacturing LCD panels but had to defer the shutdown, owing to rising demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to technology research firm TrendForce, the pandemic led to a 30% quarter-on-quarter spike in global panel demand in the third quarter of 2020.

Even as Samsung looks to phase out LCDs, the company is reportedly working on an alternative display technology called QD-OLED. The prototypes will be given to the likes of Samsung Electronics and Sony. As expected, the new panels don't use LCD panels.

If all goes well, Samsung will commence the production as early as the first quarter of this year. According to the Korean publication The Elec, the early prototype sent to Samsung Electronics in January were rejected due to their low brightness.

Apart from QD-OLED, Samsung is also working on a new display technology called Micro LED. The new panel uses multiple tiny self-emissive LEDs to produce an image. The panel is said to be already available on a few high-end Samsung displays but is likely to take another few years to be available for the mass market.