April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Display panel producer LG Display will confirm the terms for providing LCD panels to Samsung Electronics before the year-end, a top executive from the display firm said on Oct. 18.

“LG will be able to finalize the details this year,” Lee Bang-soo, the vice president of the display firm, was quoted by online economic news outlet Chosun Biz as saying. 

An LG Display engineer shows a Nano Cell-coated mother glass at the display maker’s production plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. (LG Display)

Some 700,000-1 million LCDs were expected to be supplied to Samsung before July, but it has been delayed due to technical issues. An LG spokesperson said the LCD manufacturer is redesigning its display panel modules to fit into Samsung TVs.

The unprecedented partnership came after Japanese display firm Sharp severed its partnership with Samsung in December last year to focus on its own TV businesses. Chinese electronic parts manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group, which owns Sharp, is rumored to have ordered the Japanese firm to stop supplying displays to Samsung in a bid to foster its own TV brands.

Samsung filed a complaint with the International Chamber of Commerce in January to seek US$429 million in compensation from three companies, including Foxconn and Sharp, for canceling the supply order for LCDs abruptly.

If the detailed contract terms between the two Korean firms are decided later this year, the supply of LG’s LCD panels will likely start early next year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)