Samsung said to be readying 7th gen OLEDs as LG eyes production of 6th gen panels

Yesterday, we reported on LG’s plans to begin mass producing sixth-generation OLED panels. The South Korean manufacturer is said to be aiming supply these before the end of the year as it takes on market leader Samsung. Samsung, however, appears to have bigger goals, as it’s reported that the company will soon start producing seventh-generation OLED panels.

The new arrives from The Investor, quoting an industry analyst who predicts that production of the panels could start as early as Q2, 2018. “Its smaller rivals will be catching up with Samsung in production volume of sixth-generation OLED panels in the coming years. Samsung is likely to turn its eyes to the larger seventh-generation OLED panels for better productivity,” said CEO of display research firm UBI Research, Yi Choong-hoon, in a recent report.

Apparently, Samsung might already have the capabilities to set up production as it has previously produced eighth-generation OLED panels for TVs. These could be reused to aid the production of the new panels, Yi claims.

Though the generational difference between these panels might not amount to much in terms of consumer benefit (think, something like the difference between the displays of the Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge), the implications of Samsung establishing itself as the front-runner in 7th gen OLED production are significant.

Samsung Display, the Samsung Electronics division dedicated to the production of these panels, is said to account for “95 percent” of the OLED market for smartphones. Maintaining this, if demand for such displays continues to increase as is predicted, could prove incredibly lucrative for the company. Samsung is also expected to be the major supplier of the OLED panels for a rumored Apple device to appear later this year.

Samsung is putting itself in a strong position as a supplier of what is anticipated to become the dominant smartphone display tech by 2020.