TCL chairman and CEO Li Dongsheng will visit Samsung Electronics during his trip to South Korea later this month where he will also visit South Korean display equipment makers, TheElec has learned.

Li is expected to secure from Samsung purchase orders for display panels for CSOT, TCL’s display panel-making subsidiary.

Samsung has currently halted the purchase of additional liquid crystal display (LCD) panels due to low sales of TVs.

Demand for TVs has returned to pre-pandemic levels after they were highly sought for around 2 years since 2020.

China’s lockdown measures over the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have also dented demand for TVs.

This has caused CSOT’s factory operation rate to drop significantly. Samsung is its second most important customer after parent company TCL.

According to analyst firm Omdia, back in March, CSOT aimed to ship 44.8 million units of LCD panels, with Samsung and TCL accounting for 25% and 50%, respectively.

Samsung Display had exited its LCD business as of the first half of this year while Samsung is also planning to reduce the purchase of LCD panels from BOE, a boon to CSOT.

But the recent economic downturn has put a halt on CSOT’s growth plan.

Meanwhile, Li is also expected to meet South Korean display panel equipment makers and then visit Japan to meet with those from JOLED.

CSOT is developing inkjet printing OLED technology with JOLED. The Chinese panel maker is preparing a Gen 8.5 printing OLED line called T8 in Guangzhou with the aim of starting operations in 2024 but it is unlikely this target will be met.