Final Winner

A 55 inch OLED TV by LG Electronics.
A 55 inch OLED TV by LG Electronics.

 

Samsung Display is concentrating on small flexible OLED panels, while LG Display is going with large OLED panels for TV use. Much attention is being paid to which one will be the winner of the OLED market.

According to industry sources, LG Display is assuming that the OLED TV market will be in full bloom soon, and is speeding up its investment and production. OLED TVs are thinner and show a better black color than LCD TVs, but are more expensive.

Samsung Display has a different view though. It is focusing on LCD panels and small flexible OLED panels for use in smartphones and tablet PCs. Its plan is to supply more flexible panels for the Galaxy Note Edge and the like and provide against the growth of the wearable device market in the long term.

Both of the companies have grown based on large LCD TV panels. Last year, Samsung Display beat LG Display by recording 29.4787 trillion won (US$27.6717 billion) in sales against LG's 27.0330 trillion won (US$25.3572 billion), and 2.8257 trillion won (US$2.6505 billion) against LG's 1.1633 trillion won (US$1.0909 billion) in operating profits. However, LG Display posted operating profits of 257.4 billion won (US$241.6 million) to more than triple the profits of Samsung Display in the first half of 2014, when each of them recorded approximately 12 trillion won (US$11.3 billion) in sales.

Industry experts are predicting that one of them will get the laugh next year, and later as the different strategies begin to yield different results.

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