Samsung Display will resume construction of a new organic light-emitting diode (OLED) plant at the Asan 2 complex in South Chungcheong for the first time in five years. As the foldable smartphone market grows and OLED adoption expands in information technology (IT) devices such as laptops and tablets, the company is moving to expand its production base to meet rising mid- to long-term demand.
According to the industry on the 17th, Samsung Display convened an investment review committee on the 7th and approved the frame construction for the A7 plant at the Asan 2 complex. Bidding will begin this month, with full-scale construction to start next year. It is the first time in five years since construction was put on hold in 2021, and completion is targeted for early 2028.
Samsung Display is currently producing small and midsize OLEDs for smartphones, including Samsung Electronics Galaxy Z series models, on the Asan A3 line. In addition to foldable panels, premium OLED panels supplied for the Galaxy S series and Apple iPhones are also produced at A3. With new processes and equipment investments continuing, space to install additional equipment on existing lines is said to have diminished.
The recent increase in sales of foldable smartphones is also cited as a reason for expanding production facilities. Domestic preorders for the Samsung Electronics Galaxy Z8 series, released last month, totaled 1.44 million units, up 38.5% from 1.04 million for the previous Z7 series. Samsung Display supplies foldable OLED panels for the Galaxy Z series.
Foldable phones have a larger display area than regular smartphones. They each house an external cover display and an internal main display used when unfolded, and the internal display area is also larger than that of standard smartphones. As shipments of foldable phones increase, OLED demand measured by area can grow even faster.
The OLED market is expanding beyond smartphones to IT devices such as tablets and laptops. Apple applied OLED panels to the iPad Pro for the first time in 2024, and global PC makers including Dell, HP and Lenovo are expanding their OLED laptop lineups.
Samsung Display is also expanding capacity to meet rising demand for IT OLEDs. The 8.6-generation OLED production line for IT, built at the Asan campus, entered mass production this year. It uses larger motherglass than smartphone OLEDs, enabling efficient production of panels for medium- and large-size IT products such as laptops and tablets.
The A7 construction restart also aligns with Samsung's mid- to long-term investment plans in the Chungcheong region. Samsung announced last month that it plans to invest about 140 trillion won in the Chungcheong region. Of that, Samsung Display plans to invest 67 trillion won in the display sector by 2040.
Centered on Asan, Samsung Display also plans to expand the production base for next-generation products such as ultra-high-resolution microdisplays used in Extended Reality (XR) devices, in addition to OLEDs for smartphones and IT devices. Once the A7 plant is completed, Asan business sites' OLED production base is expected to expand further, following the existing A3 and the 8.6-generation IT OLED line.