Currently only LG and Samsung are capable of making the large format OLED panels used in televisions that we can find in stores. Chinese giant BOE may enter the market before the end of 2023, but at the moment the organic matrix industry for TVs is dominated by only two big South Korean tech companies.
During the last edition of CES we saw the impact of Samsung’s entry into this market as it forced LG to max itself out. The fierce competition between these two companies means that this year users can get very interesting LG TVs that include MLA-type OLED panels (with microlenses), and also new Samsung TVs that integrate a QD-matrix. We do. Generation OLED.
However, an absolutely unexpected event has just happened. Something that reminds us how complex the relationship between some technology companies is that the competition they maintain does not prevent them from signing agreements that a priori benefit both. That’s exactly what Samsung and LG have done. And it is that last company, according to Reuters, that is starting to sell its W-OLED panels to its South Korean rival. Besides, he’s going to do it now. Before the end of the second quarter of 2023.
South Korean brands prepare for China’s onslaught
BOE’s very likely entry into the large-format OLED panel market could seriously compromise the competitiveness of Samsung and LG. Moreover, the fragile current economic situation is not making it easy for them. In fact, LG Display, a subsidiary specializing in the design and manufacturing of image panels, has closed the first quarter of 2023 with a much lower profit than it achieved in the same period of 2022.
LG Display to deliver 2 million OLED panels to Samsung in 2024 and 5 million by 2025
Under these circumstances, LG and Samsung have entered into this agreement. Sources have revealed that LG Display will deliver two million OLED panels to Samsung in 2024, and that figure will rise to five million units by 2025. That’s a lot of panels, so it’s clear that this allusion is not thrown lightly; It is part of a strategy that seeks to endure.
The first W-OLED matrices that Samsung will receive will be 77 and 83 inches, and possibly later LG Display will also offer panels of more restrained sizes. On paper the deal would allow Samsung to overtake Sony and establish itself as the world’s second largest maker of OLED televisions after LG.
This last company currently holds 54.6% of the market share for TVs with organic panels. Not far behind is Sony with 26.1%. And in third place is Samsung, with a still modest 6.1%. We will see how these figures develop when the agreements signed by South Korean companies are consolidated.
