Samsung is ditching its LCD panel production business in South Korea and China. According to Reuters, the TV giant is set to do so by the end of 2020, and will switch the focus of its investment to quantum dot (QD) technology and, according to ZDnet, OLED panels.
The news follows on the back of reports coming out of South Korea back in January that both Samsung and LG were looking to sell off major LCD production factories worth $33bn. And, in August 2019, Samsung closed a number of its LCD production lines in Korea to make way for "large-sized" OLED TV panel production.
How this does or doesn't affect Samsung's LCD TV ranges going forward remains to be seen, although it is already using external manufacturers including CSoT (owned by TCL) to provide the LCD panels for some of its LCD TVs.
Samsung's QLED TVs also use LCD panel technology and its 2020 QLED TV range is hitting shops now. We've already had a taste of it in the shape of the excellent, five-star QE65Q95T.
So, what does the future hold for its QLEDs? Last year, Samsung Display's CEO also confirmed the company was looking to develop its own hybrid QLED-OLED TVs, so one could assume either Samsung will continue to use external suppliers for the LCD tech required for its QLED TVs, or make a complete switch from LCD to OLED. Could we see the first Samsung QD-OLED 4K and 8K TVs appear in 2021? Fingers crossed!
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