Samsung and LG delay plans to shut down their LCD display plants

It looks like the good old-fashioned LCD technology still has some life left over at Samsung Display and LG Display. A new report states that both companies have delayed shutting down production of their LCD plants, due to current shortages for those displays in big-screen TVs and IT products.

The report from ETNews claims LG Display previously had plans to shut down LCD production for its 3.5th generation, 4th generation, and 5th generation plants at the end of 2016, but delayed those plans until the first half of 2017. Now the story says LG has postponed those plans once again to an unknown shut down date. The report did add that LG will continue to convert its 5th generation LCD plant to an OLED production line for lights.  Samsung Display was reportedly going to end production at its LCD 6th generation and 7th generation plants by the end of 2017, but the new report claims these plans have also been postponed, with no new target date.

These developments would seem to add fuel to recent speculation that there could be shortages in AMOLED displays and the new OLED panels for smartphones in 2017. If Samsung and LG are unable to convert their older LCD plants to accommodate the new AMOLED and OLED products, that could be bad news for smartphone companies who were expecting to use those displays in their mobile devices this year.