Apple display supplier Samsung to stop manufacturing LCD displays by the end of 2020

Nowadays, LCD panels for smartphone displays are taking the back seat while tech companies move towards OLED screens, including Apple. Samsung Display, one of Apple’s suppliers for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch displays, announced today that it is going to end LCD production in its China-based and South Korean factories by the end of 2020.

Reuters now reports that Samsung is moving on with its factories, but will still supply LCD display orders until the end of the year. The company has two LCD production lines in South Korea and two LCD-dedicated factories in China.

Additionally, Samsung’s spokesperson said that the company has not decided upon a specific plan for the China-based factories yet, but the ones in South Korea are to focus on “quantum dot” screens, which is an advanced technology producing pure monochromatic red, blue and green light, and therefore offering enhanced color schemes and brightness.

The production of LCD displays by Samsung has already been in decline since last year, as demand for LCD screens is continuously decreasing. In October, Samsung closed one of its LCD production lines in South Korea. Additionally, the company stated that it will invest around $10.72 billion in research and improvements for their production lines of quantum dot screens.

Without Samsung’s LCD displays, Apple will have LG, Japan Display and Sharp as its major LCD suppliers.