Will They, Won’t They?
Once again speculation runs wild over the potential purchase of OLED panels by Samsung Electronics. While the last batch of rumors said it was just a matter of the fine details before an agreement between Samsung Electronics and LG Display (LPL) was signed and roughly 2m panels began to be shipped to Samsung as part of its 2022 premium TV line. Since Samsung has not mentioned an OLED product in blubs before CES, rumors are now moving away from the sale over a difference in negotiated pricing. According to local Korean trade press, it seems the two companies have been a bit further apart than previously thought, with LGD offering panels to Samsung at ~$650, while Samsung is offering to buy at ~$550.
Samsung would certainly be a large customer if such a deal would go through, but even with LGD’s offered price, which is ~10% below the price that LGD sells to its parent LG Electronics, Samsung is looking to undercut LGE’s OLED TV pricing by enough that pure OLED TVs will become an option in their TV line, rather than a competitor to its own QD/OLED, Mini-LED/QD, and Micro-LED TV lines, which all fall into the ‘premium’ category. With two of those three premium lines already established, Samsung seems to want to use OLED to fill out its LCD/QD line, which is situated below the Mini-LED/QD line.
As LG Display is essentially the only volume producer of large panel OLED displays, the growth is OLED TV set shipments and the increasing number of brands that offer them falls directly to them, and Samsung would be taking a sizeable chunk of their production in 2022 (~20%), which could leave some brands unable to meet their own OLED TV goals. The question then comes down to profitability for LGD and consequently LG Electronics, who would see less profit from the Samsung order than otherwise. If LGD is confident that they can sell ~10m OLED TV panels in 2022 without Samsung, it would make sense to hardline the price. If they lack that confidence and are willing to accept a lower margin, they make the deal.
Samsung would certainly be a large customer if such a deal would go through, but even with LGD’s offered price, which is ~10% below the price that LGD sells to its parent LG Electronics, Samsung is looking to undercut LGE’s OLED TV pricing by enough that pure OLED TVs will become an option in their TV line, rather than a competitor to its own QD/OLED, Mini-LED/QD, and Micro-LED TV lines, which all fall into the ‘premium’ category. With two of those three premium lines already established, Samsung seems to want to use OLED to fill out its LCD/QD line, which is situated below the Mini-LED/QD line.
As LG Display is essentially the only volume producer of large panel OLED displays, the growth is OLED TV set shipments and the increasing number of brands that offer them falls directly to them, and Samsung would be taking a sizeable chunk of their production in 2022 (~20%), which could leave some brands unable to meet their own OLED TV goals. The question then comes down to profitability for LGD and consequently LG Electronics, who would see less profit from the Samsung order than otherwise. If LGD is confident that they can sell ~10m OLED TV panels in 2022 without Samsung, it would make sense to hardline the price. If they lack that confidence and are willing to accept a lower margin, they make the deal.
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