According to a spokeswoman, Samsung Display, which is a subunit of the South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics, will be discontinuing all manufacturing of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in South Korea and China by the end of this year. This comes after Samsung"s competitor LG Display announced earlier this year that it will also suspend its domestic production of LCD TV panels by the end of this year.
The most likely cause of the discontinuation might be the dwindling demand for LCD panels. Back in October, Samsung suspended one of its two LCD production lines due to less demand and a backlog of unsold manufactured units. But current orders and orders placed before the end of this year should proceed without any issues. The company said in a statement:
“We will supply ordered LCDs to our customers by the end of this year without any issues.”
The company runs two factories apiece in South Korea and China. Both Chinese factories are focused solely on the production of LCD panels. Moving forward, Samsung plans on investing in one of the South Korean factories to convert it into a mass production facility for its quantum dot screens. The future for the other three factories is nebulous at this point.
Source: Reuters