South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) plans to strengthen the domestic display industry by collaborating with major companies. According to the Ministry, the country’s leading display companies – LG and Samsung – are set to invest $49.21 billion (65 trillion won) in this initiative.
LG and Samsung aim to expand the production of advanced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels and conduct extensive research in this area.
To support the domestic display industry, the government has committed to providing $712 million (950 billion won) in financial assistance. The country’s goal is to capture a 50 percent share of the global display market within the next five years.
The government has devised several strategies to achieve this objective. This includes offering tax benefits and subsidies, improving market regulations, and encouraging private sector involvement. The government is planning to provide support to companies and research centres engaged in advanced technology development.
MOTIE has a specific focus on reducing production costs for displays and other products. Efforts are underway to increase South Korea’s self-reliance ratio in materials, parts, and equipment from the current 65 percent to 80 percent.
Furthermore, South Korea plans to establish three new display markets for transparent displays, extended reality (XR) displays, and automotive displays. Both public and private sectors will collaborate to cultivate a skilled workforce for the display industry. They will prepare 9,000 highly skilled engineers to lead the future of display technology. The Korean government also intends to introduce new undergraduate majors, master’s programs, and doctoral programs to support this initiative.
South Korean display industry in 2022
According to the Korea Display Industry Association, China accounted for approximately 42.5 percent of the global market in 2022, while South Korea held 36.9 percent. Korea aims to regain its position as the topmost player in the global market by 2027, a title currently held by China. Korea held this position for 17 consecutive years. However, China’s rapid expansion of the liquid crystal display (LCD) propelled it to the top spot in 2021.
Flat display manufacturers and finished product producers experienced significant growth last year. It is anticipated that this trend will continue in the coming years. The demand for displays remains stable due to their use in various electronic devices, such as smartphones and televisions. Displays play a critical role in the manufacturing sector.
The Korean government is also actively working to bridge the technology gap with competitor countries like China. The Korean government has allocated approximately $315 million to upgrade technologies. Such technologies include 8th and 10th-generation equipment and processes for televisions and information technology (IT).
In addition, South Korea is exploring ways to enhance the performance of cutting-edge inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which represent an improved version of OLED technology. The country plans to invest approximately $712 million (950 billion won) by the second half of this year. It also intends to establish an “iLED Industry Development Alliance” to support iLED research and development.
