Late last year, a sketchy-looking rumour said that Samsung was looking at LG as a potential supplier for OLED panels. While that might seem ludicrous initially, it makes sense, given Samsung's vehement anti-OLED sentiment. Now, yet another report has emerged online that essentially confirms the first one.
Sources familiar with the matter have told Korea Herald that Samsung and LG are in the final stages of negotiating a deal for OLED panels. They will very likely end up in the swathes of OLED TVs Samsung has lined up for 2022. Lee Choong-hoon, CEO and top analyst at UBI Research had the following to say:
“It is a win-win deal: Samsung is securing panels crucial for its return to OLED, while LG has been beefing up production capacity to meet growing OLED demand.”
Samsung's decision to put all of its eggs in the QLED basket could have been the main driving factor behind its decision to ask LG of all companies for OLED panels. While Samsung Display makes a ton of OLED panels, few end up in smart TVs, with most of them earmarked for high-end smartphones, tablets and laptops.
While not confirmed yet, Samsung could buy some of its much-hyped QD-OLED panels from LG due to shortages. Even though Samsung Display added a few OLED production lines to its facilities, yields continue to remain a concern. Currently, it can churn out about 30,000 OLED panels for its popular 55-inch and 65-inch TVs, which, unfortunately, can't keep up with demand.
Join SamMobile’s Telegram group and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get instant news updates and in-depth reviews of Samsung devices. You can also subscribe to get updates from us on Google News and follow us on Twitter.