Seoul, South Korea –
completed the spinoff of its LCD panel operations into Samsung Display on
Monday, as the company prepares to lead the charge into OLED display
technology.
Samsung Display was set up as a new affiliate of the flagship
Samsung corporation, and is located in Tangjeong, South Chungcheong Province.
Samsung Display will run LCD and OLED display businesses with a
combined annual revenue of at least $26.6 billion, making it the world’s
largest display manufacture, Samsung said.
According to the company, the new operation has five global
manufacturing bases and 20,000 employees. It is 100 percent owned by Samsung.
Donggun Park, executive VP and head of the former Samsung
Electronics’ LCD business, was elected CEO of Samsung Display. Park said at the
inauguration ceremony: “We will make Samsung Display a well-respected company through
continuous efforts to supply a wide variety of customized products that provide
great value to our customers.”
He added: “By continually staying one step ahead of our
competitors, we can make our company the very best in the display market.”
The move comes as Japanese competitors continue to struggle with
profitability at their own LCD operations.
As LCD TV growth begins to plateau, Samsung is planning to ramp
up its investment in OLED technology and is looking to gain a step on rivals LG
Display in Korea and key Japanese competitors.
A new company, Japan Display, which is a joint venture including Sony
(10 percent), Hitachi (10 percent), Toshiba (10 percent) and semi-public Innovation
Network Corp. of Japan (70 percent), is scheduled to begin operations this
month, starting with the acquisition of a former Panasonic LCD panel factory in
Mobara, near Tokyo. The factory was running at a rate of 600,000 small to midsize
LCD panels a month.
Meanwhile, the Korea Times reported that Apple is Samsung’s biggest
components customer, buying $7.8 billion in parts, including memory chips and
LCDs in 2011. This year, it is expected to buy around $11 billion of Samsung components,
despite being one of Samsung’s biggest rivals in finished goods.
