Several South Korean news media say Samsung Display is set to suspend the production of all LCD TV panels in June, including Korea Times and Korea Herald, citing their own sources in the industry.

According to them, Samsung Display planned to abandon its own production of LCD panels in late 2020, but then the decision was postponed at the request of its largest customer Samsung Electronics due to the COVID-19 epidemic, which led to a sharp rise in prices for such panels. Now its products have to compete with cheaper counterparts of Chinese manufacturers, so profits in this segment are not so attractive.

So from now on, Samsung Display will focus on QD (Quantum Dot) and OLED panels, and employees who have been involved in the production of LCDs will switch to QD. Most likely, this refers to the plant in the city of Asan (Southern Province of Changhong), which has so far produced the company’s budget panels.

As for Samsung Electronics, the company has already started ordering LCD panels for its budget models from Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers, such as AUO, CSoT and BOE.