Samsung Display Promoting QD-OLED TV Panels

Samsung Display has started to promote QD-OLED panels to global TV producers. It has recently supplied prototypes of QD-OLED TVs to Samsung Electronics' TV division, Sony, and Panasonic, according to market research firm Omdia. On the premise that there will be a company that will accept Samsung Display's offer, Omdia predicted that mass-production of QD-OLED panels could start as early as the third quarter of 2021.

However, it is uncertain whether Samsung Electronics, which is at the top of the potential customer list, will adopt QD-OLED panels as the global TV giant is considering promoting mini-LED TVs as a major new product for 2021. "Samsung Electronics has already decided on a TV lineup that it will release next year," an industry analyst said. "If Samsung Electronics decides to adopt QD-OLED panels, it will be able to release QD-OLED TVs in 2022 at the earliest, I think."

Samsung Display officially announced investment in a QD production line (Q1) in October 2019. Omdia predicts the company will have a capacity to process 30,000 sheets of 8.5th-generation mother glass per month. Omdia also predicted that Samsung Display will produce 55-inch to 65-inch, 78-inch and 82-inch TV panels to maximise efficiency. Some also predicted that Samsung Display will produce gaming monitors with its QD-OLED panels. In particular, Omdia predicted that Samsung Display will target not only the TV market but the monitor market by applying multi-model glass (MMG) technology that produces two or more types of panels on mother glass to increase yields.

MMG has been mainly used to produce two 55-inch TV panels and three 65-inch panels from a mother glass sheet. Omdia expects that Samsung Display will produce two 82-inch TV panels and three 32-inch monitor panels at the same time, or two 78-inch panels and six 27-inch panels at the same time. Omdia says that Samsung Display will likely enter the 32-inch 8K monitor market with its QD-OLED panels, adding that ASUS, MSI, and AOC Dell are highly likely to become major customers. Currently, the main players in the 32-inch 8K monitor market are LG Display, which entered the market in 2017, and Sharp and AUO, which joined the fray this year.

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