Chinese display manufacturing giant BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. is sending a team of top executives to Samsung’s TV business headquarters, according to a report in The Elec.
According to the report, it will be the second meeting of top officials from the two companies this year, following an earlier get-together that took place in May.
The Elec says BOE’s executives are hoping to conclude high-level negotiations with Samsung that will see it sell more than 20 million LCD TV panels to the company over three years, from 2026 to 2028. It represents a major contract for BOE, and so its executives are keen to get Samsung to sign on the dotted line. To further entice the Korean TV giant, BOE is apparently trying to sweeten the deal by throwing in some advertising royalty payments.
What that means is that BOE will stump up some of the costs of marketing Samsung’s Neo QLED LCD TVs, The Elec explained.
Samsung is said to be keen to get a deal done so it can reduce its reliance on its primary LCD panel supplier, TCL CSOT. It needs to do so to diversify its supply chain, and hopes that the deal may put it in a better negotiating position when the time comes to renew its contracts with that supplier. It also sources panels from AU Optronics.
The world’s number one TV manufacturer is now entirely dependent on Chinese LCD panel suppliers, because its own display making business unit, Samsung Display, shut down its last LCD manufacturing facility in 2022 to focus on more advanced QD-OLED and MicroLED display technology.
Samsung initially lent on its Korean rival LG Display to supply it with more LCD panels, but that company last year quit the business too, leaving it with only Chinese manufacturers to rely on.
According to The Elec, Samsung’s internal policies require that no single supplier can account for more than 35% of its total procurement volume. The strategy allows Samsung to play off different suppliers against each other and negotiate for lower prices.
BOE was previously Samsung’s second-biggest supplier of LCD panels, but in 2021 a dispute emerged over advertising royalty payments. As a result, Samsung dramatically reduced the number of panels it buys from BOE.
Now though, it appears that the two companies are willing to put that episode behind them. It’s said that Samsung needs to procure around 40 million LCD panels each year, so it represents a big opportunity for BOE.
The timing of the negotiations is critical, for Samsung typically begins developing its new TVs for the coming year around the start of the third quarter, and so BOE will need to lock in a deal soon if it wants its technology to be used in Samsung’s 2026 TVs.
