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Since Samsung started mass producing AMOLED displays in 2007, most people believe that the company is not only the leader in OLED production capacity, but also in the performance of its displays. In most cases, Samsung has been the first company to develop and manage to mass produce the most advanced OLED displays, and the first to adopt the latest OLED materials, architectures, and processes.

There are some signs that this could be changing, although honestly it's a bit too early to know. In May 2024, Apple launched its first OLED Tablets, and according to reports, Apple chose LG Display as its main supplier, ordering around 60% of its iPad OLEDs from LGD (with all of the 13" model orders going to LG), and the rest from Samsung. Later it was reported that Apple had to delay the introduction of its 2024 iPad Pro devices as Samsung faced low production yields and could not deliver displays in time.

Germany-based Loewe announced that it has established its own OLED TV assembly line, at its headquarters in Kronach, Germany. The new facility is said to be based on a 'radically designed' production process, and it is staffed by around 200 employees. The line will begin full-scale production by the end of May.

Loewe revealed that it is buying 'open-cell' WOLED panels from LG Display - and this is the first production line in Europe that can work with such panels (as opposed to complete OLED modules used in all other EU-based lines). Working with open-cell panels enables Loewe to have more control over the process and the design of its premium TVs.

According to a new report in Korea, LG Display aims to increase its OLED TV panel shipments to Samsung Electronics in 2024, and to reach almost 1 million units. 

Samsung has recently signed a five-year OLED TV panel supply agreement with LG Display, as the two Korean companies are increasing their collaboration to fend off competition from China. 

According to reports from Korea, LG Display requested Samsung Electronics to use its WOLED panels on the same tier as SDC's QD-OLED panels, and Samsung will use both panel technologies in its S90D OLED TV series. Samsung will likely not disclose the actual panel technology to the consumer, and will likely decide on the panel technology per region.

The Samsung S90D will offer 42-, 48-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch panels. SDC only makes 55, 65, and 77-inch QD-OLED panels, and so in these sizes both QD-OLEDs and WOLEDs will be used. For the 42-, 48- and 83- models Samsung will only use WOLEDs.

LG Display says that its WOLED TV and gaming displays have been awarded UL's low-plastic verification, given to products in which the plastic usage accounts to less than 5% of their total weight.

LGD says that its 65-inch OLED TV panel contains about 4% plastic content, about 905 lower than to a 65" LCD panel. In addition, by substituting key components with easily recyclable materials, LG Display has increased the recyclability of parts to as high as 92.7% at disposal.

According to recent rumors, LG Display has decided to go ahead and build its 8.6-Gen (2250 x 2600 mm) IT AMOLED line, in Paju, Korea (at its P10 hub, which was originally planned for OLED TV production). The company recently started to conduct discussions with equipment makers for supply agreements.

LG Display's plan is to officially announce its 8.6-Gen production line plans in the second half of the year, and start ordering equipment. It is likely that the capacity of the fab will be between 7,500 to 15,000 monthly substrates. LG will be using its P10 building and existing equipment (backplane deposition) to reduce the costs of the 8.6-Gen line. This will mean that there will be delays to LG's WOLED TV panel capacity expansion plans. 

In July 2023, Samsung Electronics officially launched the 83" 83S90C, the company's first TV to use LG's WOLED panels, following several years of negotiations and hesitation by the Korean rivals. Samsung then continued to launch more WOLED TVs, but did not made large orders, as it mainly uses QD-OLED panels from SDC for its high-end TVs.

According to a new report, Samsung Electronics has signed a five-year WOLED supply agreement with LG Display. This is an interesting development that may have implications for Samsung Display's QD-OLED production plans. We do not have more details, it will be interesting to learn what kind of volumes Samsung committed to. 

Samsung Electronics announced its 2024 OLED TV lineup, with 3 series. The company's flagship OLED TV for 2024, the S95D, offers 55-, 65-, or 77-inch 4K 144hz QD-OLED panels, offering high brightness (up to 3000 nits peak brightness), a new anti-glare coating to minimize reflections, Tizen 8.0 OS, and an external One Connect box for a sleek design. The S95D offers AI-Enhanced color accuracy - validated by Pantone.

Samsung also announced two more series - S90D and S85D. Interestingly, it did not detail whether these TVs use QD-OLED (produced by SDC) or WOLED panels (produced by LGD) - or a mix as it did last year within the same series. 

LG Display announced that it has successfully developed a 27-inch 480Hz QHD (2560x1440) Gaming OLED display, a world first. The panel offers a 0.03 ms response time, that together with the ultra-fast refresh rate, makes it optimal for gaming. LGD's new panel also implements the company's Micro-Lens Array (MLA) technology to enhance light output. 

LGD says that it will start producing this new panel in the first half of 2024. The company's 2024 gaming OLED monitor lineup will include panels in sizes 27, 31.5, 34, 39, and 45 inches.

In 2021, LG Display started to adopt deuterated OLED compounds in its WOLED panels, to improve the lifetime, efficiency and brightness. Today, all of LG's WOLED TV panels use deuterated blue OLED emitters, in which hydrogen is replaced by its more stable isotope, deuterium. The higher stability enables longer lifetime, which in turn enables higher brightness and efficiency.

It is now reported in Korea that LG Display now aims to expand the adoption of deuterated OLED compounds to its red and green and yellow emitters, and also other layers in the OLED stack. If this report is true, it means that LGD will also use the technology in its mobile (p-OLED) panels, not just its OLED TV ones.