The South Korean giant announced earlier this week that it will sell off its remaining LCD panel production lines by the end of 2020
Reuters reported that Samsung decided this course of action in relation to falling demand for LCD panels.
Related: Every Samsung 2020 QLED TV explained
Samsung intends to sell off its production facilities by the end of 2020 to focus on its Quantum Dot displays. This has been suspected for a while, with profit margins in the LCD market falling due to aggressive pricing.
Samsung has shown plenty of interest in modular MicroLED TVs, but still seem to be scuppered by bringing the technology to more affordable prices. It also has shown significant interest in developing its Quantum Dot OLED (QD-OLED) hybrid panels, with the confirmation of a $10.9bn investment in QD-OLED facilities in 2019.
Production of QD-OLED panels was reported to start in 2021, which seems like a neat crossover between ending production of LCD panels and beginning on QD-OLED.
This follows on from LG Display announcing earlier in 2020 that it intends to halt domestic production of its LCD panels this year to focus on OLED. Quite what this means for Samsung’s LCD TV range going forward remains a tad unclear.
The thinking is that they will rely on external suppliers, as they already do in TCL-owned CSoT for some of its LCD panels. Samsung has said the change will not impact its existing LCD-based QLED TV range.
QLEDs will be around for a while yet, getting more affordable with QD-OLED TVs coming in as the more premium option. We’ll be keeping our beady eye on this, as LG and Samsung can’t be the only TV manufacturers feeling the pinch.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
