Samsung shifts to new TV tech on LCD spin-off
SOUTH Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest maker of televisions, officially marked a shift in its focus towards new generation OLED display technology, and said it will spin off its loss-making LCD flat-screen business into an affiliate.
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation, with the outlook for liquid crystal display televisions grim as shoppers in developed markets trade in their bulky cathode-ray tube TVs for flat screens and competition intensifies from low-cost Chinese manufacturers.
Annual global sales of LCD TVs will contract by eight per cent to $92bn (£58bn) by 2015, research firm DisplaySearch has forecast, while the OLED display market could top $20bn by 2018 – accounting for 16 per cent of the total display industry, up from a current four per cent.
Sony agreed to exit its LCD joint venture with Samsung in December, while Sharp said it would halve LCD output at one of its plants.