Samsung Electronics reported its financial results for Q2 2022, with record second-quarter revenues of 77.2 trillion Won ($59 billion USD).
Samsung Display reported record second-quarter revenue and operating profit for mobile displays driven by solid demand from major customers. Samsung specifically mentions the growth in its laptop OLED business. Performance in the large panel business was weaker due to initial ramp-up costs of Samsung's QD-OLED displays, and a decline in LCD prices.
Looking at the second half of 2022, SDC expects earnings in the mobile panel business to increase, driven by new smartphone launches and expansion into new application areas such as automotive and gaming. Earnings in the large display business is expected to improve as demand increases for QD displays.
Looking at longer-term growth, Samsung has a 5-year plan, which includes a focus on finding new application for OLED displays, as smartphone penetration is already at 40%. Potential applications for OLED displays include IT, gaming and automotive displays. SDC will focus on emphasizing the advantages of OLED versus LCD and also prepare the right technologies that will enable the implementation of OLEDs in these application areas.
Another key area for Samsung is AR and VR applications - or the metaverse. Samsung officially confirms it is developing microdisplay technologies. This was reported last month, with claims that Apple has specifically reached out to Samsung to develop OLED microdisplays for future AR devices.
SDC's QD-OLED business suffers from ramp-up costs, but SDC says that it expects an increase in sales in the second half of 2022, driven by rapid improvement in QD display yield and a rising number of brands adopting QD display products.
