Recently, reports from the South Korean supply chain suggest that Samsung Electronics will be the first to launch an "LCD-less" strategy for smartphone panels in 2024.

Samsung will adopt OLED panels for approximately 30 million units of low-end smartphones, which will have a certain impact on the current LCD ecosystem.

It is worth mentioning that sources from the smartphone supply chain indicate that Samsung has already outsourced some of its OLED smartphone manufacturing projects to Chinese mainland contract manufacturers. Huaqin and Wingtech have become the main forces in China competing for the contract manufacturing of the 30 million units of low-end smartphones under Samsung's brand.

It is known that Samsung's low-end LCD panel supply chain used to mainly include BOE, CSOT, HKC, Xinyu, Tianma, CEC-Panda, and Truly; while the LCD driver IC supply chain mainly included Novatek, Himax, Ilitek, and SMIC. However, Samsung's adoption of the "LCD-less" strategy in low-end smartphones is expected to have an impact on the existing LCD supply chain.

Insiders revealed that Samsung Display (SDC), as the world's largest OLED panel manufacturer, has already fully withdrawn from LCD panel production capacity. Therefore, absorbing its own pressure from OLED production capacity within the group is considered normal. However, the large-scale adoption of OLED panels in low-end smartphones is unexpected. If this initiative receives positive market response, Samsung may have plans to completely phase out LCD panels in smartphone displays in the future.

Currently, China supplies LCD panels globally, occupying nearly 70% of global production capacity. As South Korean companies Samsung and LG, the former LCD "dominators," are placing their hopes on the OLED industry in an attempt to turn the tide, their execution of the "LCD-less" strategy in electronic products is a strategic decision.

In response, Chinese LCD panel manufacturers BOE, CSOT, HKC, and CHOT are striving to defend the "territory" of LCD by controlling production and maintaining price stability. Balancing the market through demand will be a long-term defense strategy for China's LCD industry.