Samsung’s LCD business may have officially come to an end. The business reportedly transferred all of its LCD-related patents to the Chinese company CSOT, according to the Korean media (China Star Optoelectronics Technology).
Around 2,000 LCD patents were held by Samsung Display, the Korean behemoth’s display manufacturing division, which transferred them all to CSOT, The Elec reports . Among these are 577 US-registered patents. The corporation transferred those in June of this year and then transferred South Korean-registered patents in August. However, it might still be able to use the patent-protected technology in its devices. This is being done to prevent future legal action.
Since a few years ago, this has been anticipated. With the closure of six LCD production lines in 2016, Samsung started to wind down its LCD business. The business desired space for Quantum Dot LED panels (QLED). At the end of 2020, it intended to halt LCD production completely. However, a significant boost in demand for LCD panels and an artificial price increase brought on by the coronavirus pandemic caused the deadline to be postponed for a few more months. Samsung is giving up now that the market has slowed down once more.
Advertisement At its plants in Asan, South Korea, and Suzhou, China, Samsung ran LCD production lines. A few years ago, the business sold the latter to CSOT. It makes sense that Samsung would provide CSOT access to LCD patents given that the company has stock in the Chinese startup. The Korean powerhouse is also thought to have sold Efonlong and other Chinese firms equipment from its Asan factory.
On its smartphones, Samsung will continue to use LCD screens. Samsung’s halting of LCD production does not preclude the business from continuing to produce smartphones with LCD displays. The Korean behemoth’s smartphone and display businesses are two distinct units that operate separately even though they frequently collaborate. It’s possible that Samsung has increased its use of LCD screens in recent years.
Despite this, it will purchase LCD displays from other brands since it lacks internal production. Moving ahead, its main source should be CSOT. Another Chinese display manufacturer, BOE, has previously served as one of its major LCD suppliers. But because to disagreements over royalties, Samsung is gradually removing it from its LCD supply chain. Observers in the industry think that Samsung and CSOT may now team together to compete with BOE in the display market.
