The Elec is reporting LG is using Samsung Display’s OLEDs in its LG gram Ultraslim and LG gram Style laptops, the first OLED products of their kind for the company. LG Display doesn’t manufacture the rigid OLED panels for these products and it would be too costly for the company to adapt its flexible OLED panel production facilities to do so, even though it is possible. This is Samsung Displays first OLED panel deal with LG Electronics.
What We Think
The Korean government has backed the display industry to the hilt as it acknowledges the transition to new display technologies. So, Samsung and LG are able to leverage each other in ways that other competitors outside of Korea would find hard to do. When it comes to TVs, that’s a powerful statement, smartphones and tablets, too, but it’s hard to say that OLED laptops will have a similar impact short-term because LG’s laptops are nice to look at and very, very light but that’s about it. It’s hard to see how the consumer market for laptops is going to be anything but diminished this year. And I certainly don’t think of LG as having a business product in these laptops. Not outside of Korea or some other regional markets.
