‘Samsung negotiates with LG Display about the delivery of cheap OLED panels’

Samsung Electronics is negotiating with panel maker LG Display about the supply of cheap OLED panels with a relatively low maximum brightness. At least that is what the Korean medium The Elec states on the basis of sources.

It has been assumed for some time that Samsung Electronics is in talks about the purchase of OLED panels from LG Display. According to The Elec these talks focus on purchasing relatively cheap OLED panels with a somewhat lower brightness of 150cd/m².

These would be panels from the so-called M-series. There are also higher positioned P and R series panels, with maximum brightness values ​​of 180 and 200cd/m² respectively. This probably concerns the brightness of a white display that fills the screen. Usually when talking about maximum brightness for OLED TVs, values ​​from 700 to 1000cd/m² are mentioned; that’s on a 10 percent window.

Samsung Electronics would like to have these M-series panels to boost profitability as much as possible, The Elec reports citing sources. Samsung is said to have asked LG Display if it is possible to develop a less expensive version of the R-series panels, with still a brightness of 200cd/m². According to sources, there is a chance that LG Display will refuse this, because the company sells R-series panels for higher prices to, for example, LG Electronics and Sony.

It is not known which type of panel is exactly in which OLED TV, but it is likely that panels from the R series are in top models such as the LG G2 and, for example, in Sony’s A90J from last year or in its successor: the A90K. LG Electronics, the branch of LG that makes the televisions, uses all three types of panels. The company also makes cheaper OLED televisions, such as those from the B and especially the A series; it probably contains the cheaper panels, with the lowest brightness.

Samsung will also come this year with an OLED TV based on a QD OLED panel from Samsung Display: the S95B. This is a different OLED technology than that of LG Display. However, Samsung Display’s QD OLED technology is still relatively new and the numbers will have to increase, just like the yields. That will be one of the reasons that Samung is also looking at its rival LG for OLED panels. In addition, the margins in LCD televisions have been under pressure for some time now.