China's monopoly over large LCD TV panels leads to higher costs for Samsung

One of Samsung Group's greatest advantages is that it has a solid manufacturing infrastructure that covers a wide variety of components, many of which end up inside Samsung Electronics' own consumer products. It gives Samsung more control over the supply chain, and that kind of resource is invaluable.

On the other hand, Samsung is now feeling the effects of having to rely on external suppliers, or, more relevant to the latest news, to rely on LCD makers from China.

According to the Korean media, Samsung and its neighboring TV rival, LG, were both notified by Chinese LCD panel suppliers of forthcoming price increases. As the media puts it: Concerns that China's dominance of the LCD supply chain would lead to higher prices are becoming a reality.

Three Chinese LCD panel makers have sent notices to customers about LCD price adjustments: BOE, TCL, and HKC. BOE will increase prices in the fourth quarter of 2026, while TCL and HKC are planning to adjust prices earlier, before the end of September.

Interestingly, market watchers say some Chinese LCD production lines are not working at full capacity. The foreign media says that although some of these suppliers could produce more panels and avoid price hikes, they don't have to because they've formed a monopoly in the large-size LCD market.

Samsung gave up on LCD TV panel manufacturing in 2022. The good news for the company is that it no longer relies that heavily on LCD panels, to begin with.

Most Samsung TVs in 2026 are equipped with Neo QLED, OLED, or Micro RGB panels. The Crystal series is Samsung's only series to utilize LCD in 2026.

With that being said, if Chinese LCD makers force Samsung to pay more for LCD panels, those additional costs could translate into pricier Crystal TVs. The low-end TV market, rather than the premium segment, will be the one affected by this monopoly over LCD panel production.