Samsung pours $11 bn into next-gen displays to counter Chinese rivals

Samsung Display Co. plans to spend 13.1 trillion won ($11 billion) developing and building next-generation displays, responding to a flood of supply and price pressure from fast-moving Chinese rivals.

In an announcement event attended by Korean President Moon Jae-in and Samsung Electronics Co. Vice-Chairman Jay Y. Lee, the investment was presented as a move to reorganize the display industry while maintaining Samsung’s global lead and Korea’s established dominance. The government will invest about 400 billion won into next-generation displays to propel that objective, Moon said.

The Samsung unit will build a quantum-dot display production line in Asan, according to a company statement, which will begin operations from 2021 with an initial annual capacity of 30,000 panels larger than 65 inches.