Samsung Display resumes construction of A7 OLED panel plant
Samsung Display is resuming construction of the A7 plant for OLED panel production in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, after a five-year pause. As reported by The Korea Herald, the company’s investment committee approved the construction of the facility’s structures on August 7. Contracts are planned to be signed this month, full-scale construction is expected to begin next year, and completion is scheduled for early 2028.
Demand for foldable panels
Samsung Display’s CEO said that the most likely use for the new capacity would be panels for foldable smartphones. According to him, this segment will grow and require new technologies and manufacturing processes. The company also expects an increase in the volume of OLED panels for laptops and other technology devices.
Construction of A7 was halted in 2021. Since then, prospects for the foldable smartphone market have improved: the Samsung Galaxy Z8 series, released in July, collected 1.44 million pre-orders in South Korea. This is 38.5% more than the 1.04 million orders for the previous series. Samsung Display supplies OLED panels for foldable Galaxy Z models. Such devices typically have an external screen and a larger internal foldable display, so they require more panels than conventional smartphones.
The Korea Herald also notes that Apple’s expected entry into the foldable smartphone market could increase demand for displays. Samsung Display is widely considered one of the possible key suppliers of panels for Apple’s first foldable iPhone.
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Expansion of production capacity
Samsung Display produces small and medium-sized OLED panels on its A2, A3 and A4 lines in Asan, including for Galaxy smartphones and iPhones, as well as for foldable devices. The A5 line produces large QD-OLED panels for televisions and monitors. The newer A6 line produces 8.6-generation RGB OLED panels for laptops and other devices.
According to the publication, years of equipment and manufacturing process upgrades have left little room on the A2, A3 and A4 lines for further expansion. A7 is intended to provide the company with additional production space, while Samsung Display will determine later how capacity will be allocated among foldable panels, OLED and other areas.
In July, Samsung announced its intention to invest about 140 trillion won, or $101 billion, in the Chungcheong region. By 2040, Samsung Display plans to allocate 67 trillion won to investments in display technologies, including microdisplays for extended reality devices.
