Report: Samsung could acquire Taiwan’s PlayNitride for micro-LED panels

According to the latest rumor, Samsung might soon acquire a Taiwanese LED manufacturer for around $150 million in order to develop micro-LED panels.

PlayNitride is one of the many Taiwanese companies that boast extensive R&D in micro-LED technology, and according to OLED-info, the South Korean electronics giant may be preparing to acquire the firm for $150 million. If you recall, Samsung isn’t the first to show interest in micro-LED displays: Apple acquired LuxVue Technology way back in 2014, and Oculus acquired InfiniLED in 2016, all of which were specialists in micro-LED technology.

Micro-LED panels consist of microscopic LEDs that form individual display pixels. The result is that compared to regular LCD panels or even current OLED displays, these micro-LED displays can show higher picture contrast and much faster response times all the while being extremely energy-efficient, just like OLED displays. Unlike OLED displays, however, micro-LED panels can offer far higher brightness – as much as 30 times higher – and do not suffer from short lifetimes.

The report claims that Samsung is looking to employ this technology in VR applications but could eventually replace its current Quantum Dot technology in televisions with micro-LED screens. Although micro-LED displays may be cheaper to produce and could offer the ideal solution to the drawbacks of today’s OLED panels, unfortunately, they have not been mass-produced or commercialized yet due to technical difficulties.

Industry experts say that while we may see low-volumes of micro-LED displays being produced as early as the end of 2017, they won’t be commercialized before 2020.

Are you a big fan of OLED displays? Do you think micro-LED panels could replace OLED? Let us know what you think in the comments below!