Samsung is keen on diversifying its portfolio by investing 13.1 trillion won ($11 billion) over the next five years with the company beginning its production of 65-inch Quantum Dot (QD) displays in 2021with a target of the display entering the market in 2022.
Samsung Display Co.'s next-generation displays, the Quantum Dot, enhance the brightness and color of images on an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen.
Temporarily called Q1, the South Korean tech giant's new line, which will include the 65-inch QD displays, will be assembled at its factory in Asan, in South Korea's South Chungcheong Province.
The existing LCD production lines will be eventually turned into QD display lines with the aim of increasing QD displays production by 2025.
Ten trillion won will go into the factories and 3.1 trillion won will be for research and development.
In the process, 81,000 jobs will get created.
Though it's not known what the exact technology for these QD displays is, it is assumed it will be a combination of Quantum Dot and Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology.
Insiders say the development of this QD-OLED technology is happening concurrently with the construction of the facilities that will get used for its future commercialization.
At present, LG is the only company that makes OLED panels for TVs.
The planned spending of Samsung Display's production will be larger than LG Display's giving Samsung the upper hand on pricing.
Samsung's QD-OLED investment is a reaction to its not-so-hot performance in its smartphone unit.
Likewise, the company's QD-OLED investment plan is largely a reaction to two recent events: stagnating growth in smartphone markets and the rise of China's LCD.
The bigger challenge is the rise of China's display makers like BOE Technology Group Co. that has been developing new technology for LCD, the dual-cell.
China's display makers are also expected to invest heavily in large-sized OLED panels soon.
Samsung, South Korea's largest company, is the top producer of OLED displays.
The company didn't do well in 2018 when the iPhone XS had underperformed in its sales.
The company is still looking at how the new iPhone 11 Pro models will perform during the holiday season though analysts are optimistic about the growing demand.
Stiff competition made Samsung Display stop the production of its LCDs and also reduce its production at its two secondary lines.
Samsung then put its resources into developing other technologies.
Samsung had pledged anyway to invest long-term in its display business, one of its three pillars, that makes this South Korean tech a world leader, together with its memory chips and smartphones.
With the trade restrictions that Japan put on the chemicals and components needed to manufacture advanced displays, Samsung is making a huge bet on this market.
