Samsung and Hyundai Motor Expected to Expand Collaboration
Samsung Display's OLED panels will go into Hyundai Motor Co.'s electric vehicle (EV) Ioniq 5, which is to be released in the first half of 2021.
Hyundai Motor will use OLED panels from Samsung Display for the rearview camera system of the Ioniq 5, the first electric vehicle model that the automaker will produce using the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP).
The rearview camera of the Ioniq 5, which is offered as an option, is a device that enables drivers to watch the back and surroundings of the vehicle using a camera and a display screen instead of a rearview mirror. Compared to the rearview mirror, the rearview camera offers a wider view, minimizes blind spots and allows drivers to see surroundings brightly even in dark places.
Samsung Display has been supplying this system, dubbed the “Virtual Rear View Mirror,” for Audi’s electric vehicle e-Tron since 2018. OLED displays feature low power consumption and can provide optimal visual solutions to drivers due to its thin and light design.
It is the first time in more than a decade that Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics joined hands. Industry analysts expect the two companies to expand their cooperation into other areas. In May 2020, Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Eui-sun visited Samsung SDI's Cheonan Plant. At the time, Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong guided Chung in person. In July of the same year, Lee visited Hyundai Motor’s Namyang Research Institute, creating a cooperative relationship.
Industry insiders hope that cooperation between the two business groups leads to improvement in Korea’s competitiveness in electic vehicles.