Samsung Display is abruptly shutting down its LCD manufacturing business next month. The Korean tech giant had previously scheduled the shutdown for December this year but now it is happening as soon as the end of June.
Sources with insider information have revealed that the competition has been quite harsh for Samsung and the company wanted to avoid further losses.
Going forward, Samsung Display will focus on manufacturing OLED and Quantum Dot (QD) panels, and all employees from the LCD wing are expected to be transferred to the QD business.
Older reports from Display Supply Chain Consultants have revealed that the price of LCD panels is only 36.6% of what it used to be in 2014, which was its peak production period. Chinese display maker BOE and AU Optronics from Taiwan are also offering lower prices to clients.
Samsung had originally planned to discontinue its LCD business in 2020, but lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for home entertainment on cheap devices such as affordable TVs and smartphones. For that reason, Samsung was forced to delay this major step.
Samsung officials have not responded to a request for comment yet but we expect to know more about the shutdown’s financial implications through Q2’s earnings report in July.
Source: gsmarena
