Samsung Display to upgrade OLED panel production via $3.1 billion investment plan

Samsung Display, a panel manufacturing subsidiary of tech giant Samsung Electronics announced a 4.1 trillion won investment i.e. equivalent to USD 3.1 billion investment on Tuesday. The panel company will boost its production capacity in Asan, a city in the South Chungcheong province, Seoul for organic light-emitting diode panels that are used specifically in tablets and laptops. 

The subsidiary has set a target of doubling down its production of 14.3-inch tablet panels from the current 4.5 million per year to 10 million per year. The newly announced investments will be utilized in next three years. 

Samsung Display believes with their latest step they can rise to a better position in the global market. The demand for electronic devices is not the same as it was at the beginning of the pandemic in 2022. In the last two years, the world is seeing an economic slowdown. The inflation rates are high in several countries. 

That’s why Samsung Display is adjusting to the current situation. The company has dropped the manufacturing of LCD screens instead they are focusing on its OLED screen line. In the coming years, Samsung plans to produce more and more mid-sized OLED screens since the demand for them is fairly high in the worldwide electronic markets. 

The majority of gaming companies prefer OLED screens on their PCs and tablets as these screens provide premium quality graphics, one of the most important aspects a gamer looks for. Samsung Display aspires to meet the OLED demand of corporations in the gaming industry. It is also likely that demand for OLED screens may arise from other types of businesses because OLEDs are very much multi-use and these thin screens can be attached to a wide variety of devices.  

Samsung Display has been putting efforts into the OLED market for a while. Over the years, Samsung has gained a leading position in the global OLED market giving South Korea a good stature worldwide. However, currently, competition is at its peak in the OLED market. With the advancement of production technology by Chinese manufacturers, Korea has started to face immense competition. 

In 2022, Omdia, a global technology research and advisory group released data which pointed out that OLED as well as AMOLED shipments of China’s BOE (Beijing Oriental Electronics) have grown exponentially in the past few years. According to Omdia, BOE’s market share size has gone up from 5.6% in 2019 to almost 12% in 2022. 

On the other side, the market share of South Korea’s leading display companies like Samsung Display and LG Display has dropped. As for the Japanese display companies, their industry has been in chaos ever since JOLED, a prominent display technology company, announced bankruptcy last month. Japan’s future in the display market is quite debatable for now.

It is expected that the OLED investments could assist Samsung Display in getting ahead of Chinese counterparts who have been taking a lead in previous years. As per the Korean government, the new investments will benefit the nation with boosted revenues. The investments will also generate around 26,000 jobs across the nation.