Samsung/LG OLED Deal Redux

Samsung/LG OLED Deal Redux
​

​Yesterday we noted that rumors concerning an agreement between Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and LG Display (LPL) for the purchase of between 3m and 4m OLED panels had been heating up.  As noted these rumors have surfaced before and at various times comments about such a deal from a number of Samsung executives were both cryptic and definitive, so the rumor seems to ebb and flow with Samsung’s comments.  Yesterday was the flow, with Asian news services hinting that a deal was in the works or imminent, while today is the ebb, with a Samsung executive stating, “There is no change in the idea that our QLED TVs have better picture quality than OLED TVs.  I’m trying to make it clear that the rumors are groundless.  It is true that LCD prices are rising, and we face a difficult situation, but we have enough capacity to overcome as a No. 1 company.”
Does that end the controversy?  Not really, because rumors sell eyeballs and eyeballs are the commodity that rules society currently.  In a month or two there will be a story out of Korea that will hint that the talks have resumed or an ‘influencer’ has rendered a ‘Samsung OLED TV’ from scraps of paper he/she found on the floor of a restaurant where Samsung staff eat lunch.  Samsung will continue to deny any involvement with LGD’s OLED supply, right up until the day they announce such a product, and the rumor mill continues to spin.