April 28, 2024

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Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun, newly appointed as the president of the Korea Display Industry Association, speaks to reporters before the general meeting of KDIA in Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)

Korea's display panel industry will take back its lead in the global display market from China by 2027 with its edge in advanced technologies, Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun said as he became the president of Korea Display Industry Association on Thursday.

Delivering his inaugural speech at the general meeting, Choi vowed to work to boost the Korean industry's standing on the global stage through close collaboration with the government during his three-year term.

"The Chinese government is spending a huge sum of money for subsidies to foster its domestic display panel industry. So I think the Korean display makers are on an uneven playing field," Choi said.

"I believe we are about a year or a year and a half ahead of China in terms of technological advancement. But it is true that the gap is narrowing. It is crucial that the Korean display industry continue to invest in research and development and raise the ‘hit ratio’ to attract more customers and markets."

On the market prospect, Choi noted that Chinese companies are starting to understand the limitations of LCD panels, and are seen eyeing to enter the OLED panel market.

“How fast Chinese firms transfer to OLED panels and the growing market volume would have impacts, but the government and our industry players are confident that Korea will take back the No. 1 position by 2027."

With cheap LCD panels, China has been dominating the global display market, taking 65 percent of the share in production volume in 2022, according to DSCC, a market tracker. Korea took 12 percent of the market share.

But Korea is leading the more advanced OLED panels, taking 55 percent of market share.

On the burgeoning display panel market for IT devices, Choi explained the demand for more advanced technologies is growing as the size of display panels used in those devices is getting larger.

"In this aspect, I believe Korean display makers have an advantage over Chinese firms. I will make an effort so that this trend continues," Choi said.

The IT display panel market, where Korean display makers Samsung Display and LG Display are dominant players, will steadily grow.

"It will take more time in the display panel market for IT gadgets to grow to match the size of smartphone display panels, but the market is expected to show an upward trend," Choi said.

Industry watchers expect Choi to lead the display industry's collaboration with the government, as he is known as an active strategist in business management.

Last May, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced a set of support measures to boost the Korean display industry, including tax credits, discarding unnecessary regulations and an investment of over 1 trillion won in research and development.

Display makers have also agreed to invest 65 trillion won in cutting-edge display technology over the next five years.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)