LG and Samsung drop lawsuits; Samsung may adopt LG’s OLED technology

 

Feb 21, 2013

On Feb 20th, Korea Times reported that LG Display has dropped its injunction against Samsung Display Corporation.

Samsung and LG have had a fierce competition for decades. Recently the Korean government has become involved and ordered the two companies to talk to each other. Several weeks ago, Samsung dropped its lawsuit against LG Display over OLED technology. Yesterday, LG Display dropped its lawsuit against Samsung over IPS LCD technology.

The announcement comes after Samsung surprisingly decided to adopt LG’s white OLED plus color filter technology. According to Samsung officials the company will start the manufacture of AMOLED with white OLED plus color filter technology in late 2013.

I believe this cooperation is mainly caused by progress by other regions in AMOLED. See our “Large AMOLED TV Summary and Comparison” of LG, Samsung, Sony, AUO, and Panasonic.

Figure. Large AMOLED TV Summary and Comparison

oled tv tablet with cr

Source: Touch Display Research, Touch and Emerging Display Monthly Report, Jan. 2013

In January 2013, LG Electronics officially launched the 55” OLED TV with 1080p resolution in the South Korean market, priced at about $10,000. LG later announced that it would bring the OLED TV to the U.S. market in March 2013, priced at $12,000.

On the other hand, Samsung has no follow-up of when to bring its 55” OLED TV to the market yet.

LG’s 55” OLED TV uses white OLED plus RGBW color filter method for the color patterning, and using oxide TFT for the backplane. Samsung’s 55” OLED TV demo uses RGB chemical vapor deposition and LTPS TFT for the backplane. Current commercialization situation confirmed that LG’s method is more achievable, or can achieve higher yield and lower cost in 2013.

Sony, AUO, and Panasonic brought OLED TVs to a higher level: Ultra HD (4K) resolution. Samsung and LG’s OLED TV stayed at FHD (1080p), but they made them curved this year.

With the other region’s AMOLED competition, it’s a good decision for LG and Samsung to cooperate. Will Samsung adopt white OLED method to only TV or to other size AMOLED?  What is the pros and cons of white OLED method? Will Samsung abandon (bottle up) its other color patterning technologies? More analysis can be found in our Touch and Emerging Display monthly report.

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer and team