Days after Samsung launched their new OLED TVs in Australia kicking off a direct battle with arch rival LG the South Korean business has announced a $4.5 billion dollar invest funded by the South Korean Government in new OLED display manufacturing plants.

The new investment comes as Apple is forced to ditch their relationship with Chinese Company BOE who have struggled to produce OLED display panels for Apple’s iPhones and tablets.

Samsung Electronics plans to use the South Korean Government money to restructure its production lines and to buy equipment, the government said.

With the investment, Samsung Display expects its capacity for producing 14.3-inch tablet panels to more than double to 10 million panels per year from the current 4.5 million, this creates a problem for both BOE and LG Electronics who are both suppliers of OLED panels to Apple.

Samsung Display is leading a transition toward OLED panels from liquid crystal display ones. T

the company stopped producing LCD panels last year due to stiff price competition from Chinese companies.

Instead, it is focusing on premium OLED screens which can be applied to various types of screens, including foldables.

OLED panels can also be thinner than LCDs as they do not need backlights thanks to their light-emitting diodes claims Nikki Asia.

The investment is timely as demand for consumer electronic devices in the global market is dropping sharply due to high inflation and slowing economic growth.

Nevertheless, Samsung Display expects that demand for premium mid-sized panels will keep on increasing as third parties turn to Samsung to supply their OLED display needs.

Several Tablet and PC makers such as Lenovo, Dell, Alienware and Acer are adopting OLED panels for their premium products.

An industry source familiar with the matter said that Samsung Display wants to quickly establish a dominant position in the market with the investment.
“It’s still an early stage in the sector, so the company believes it’s time to have capacity for bigger volumes so that they can be first to occupy the market,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

The South Korean government also said that the investment would create 26,000 jobs and lead to knock-on economic effects by helping suppliers in the region increase their revenues.

Samsung Display’s large-scale OLED investment comes one week after Japanese display technology company JOLED filed for bankruptcy protection at the Tokyo District Court. The company has total liabilities of 33.7 billion yen ($257 million).

It was formed in a 2015 merger of the OLED businesses of Panasonic and Sony.