Samsung is swallowing its pride and has signed an agreement with its South Korean rival LG Display to supply it with 10 million OLED TV screens. Samsung stopped production of OLED panels in 2015, saying the market was not ready for the technology.
Definitely, Samsung is in trouble right now. In terms of smartphone sales, Samsung no longer seduces, the firm is overtaken by Apple. Now the South Korean giant has to lower itself to signing an agreement with LG, its longtime rival, to supply it with television screens. It was a rumor that had been circulating for more than a year, as we reported to you in this article: “Samsung OLED TVs thanks to LG? A coaster that questions“
Reuters says LG Display will supply premium 77- and 83-inch white OLED displays to Samsung, in a deal that could help them make a profit against fierce competition from rivals. Chinese in the field of screens. LG Display will supply 2 million of these OLED panels to Samsung in 2024, 3 million in 2025, then 5 million in 2026, for a total of 10 million.
Samsung didn’t believe in OLED unlike LG
This is the first time that Samsung has purchased OLED panels from its rival. As an admission of defeat, after Samsung stopped making OLED televisions in 2015. The semiconductor manufacturer argued at the time that the market was not ready for this technology which would equip high-end televisions at the prices too high.
Samsung had bet instead on QLED televisions, a variant of LCD LED, cheaper but of lower quality. However, the firm had bet on the wrong wrong horse, since it was the OLED models that ultimately dominated the high-end market.
To read: Best 4K, Led and Oled TVs: which model to buy in 2023?
Samsung has returned to OLED recently with its first QD-OLED TV launched last year. Samsung Display also supplied screens for Sony’s first QD-OLED TV. However, it would seem that the South Korean does not have production capacities comparable to LG, which has captured more than 50% of the market share of OLED televisions, against 26% for Sony and only 6% for Samsung.
