A recent rise in the price of LCD panels due to the shortage of semiconductors, might be one of the factors
South Korean Tech giant Samsung is reportedly buying OLED panels from its rival LG. Reported by a lot of Korea based media houses, the move could be a aftermath of Samsung’s decision to quit using LCD technology in its QLED TVs. The company might now be looking at using OLED panels sourced from LG in its TVs.
The reports noted that LG will be supplying approximately one million panels to Samsung in the second half of the ongoing fiscal. This batch of one million display panels will be followed by another batch of four million panels in 2022.
It is to be noted here that Samsung does not usually source such components from its rival LG. However, a recent rise in the price of LCD panels due to the shortage of semiconductors, might be one of the factors.
Investing 5,000 crore in India
Samsung is also investing nearly Rs 5,000 crore in a smartphone display manufacturing facility in Noida. The export-oriented unit (EOU) is expected to be ready by January-February 2021. It will attain commercial production by April 2021.
The company has already invested about Rs 1,500 crore in the greenfield plant. Once the unit is operational, India would become only the third country in the world having Samsung’s smartphone display manufacturing facility. The plant is among the big projects, which had shifted to India post covid-19 outbreak in China. The project is expected to create nearly 1,500 jobs.
Samsung, last year, had decided to stop production at its only TV factory in China. This was one of the latest developments in series of moves by the South Korean firm to shift production from the world’s second-largest economy.
Weak global demand for TVs and smartphones may have encouraged Samsung Display to halt production of LCD panels. A report published by Reuters had pointed out that the Korea-based electronics giant will stop manufacturing LCD by the end of 2020.
The company has already suspended operations at one of its LCD manufacturing lines. Samsung Display has two LCD production lines located in Korea. The company has cited falling demand for LCDs as a reason behind the same.
Back in October 2019, the company had informed about investing 13.1 trillion Won (approx $10.72 billion) in facilities and research to upgrade the production line. Supplier of LCD panels to many, including Apple Inc, Samsung has been struggling with oversupply amid weak global demand.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), India, has invited display fabs to send response to EoI to setup display manufacturing units in India. India’s display panel market, as per MeitY, is estimated to be $7 Bn and is expected to grow to $15 Bn by 2025. Current requirements are met exclusively through imports.
