Samsung Display poised to supply OLED panels to Ferrari

Samsung Display Co. of South Korea is set to supply Ferrari S.p.A. with its automotive organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, accelerating its push into the automotive display market.

On Tuesday, Ferrari Chief Executive Benedetto Vigna signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo Sun for the two companies to jointly develop displays to be installed in Ferrari’s next-generation vehicles.

The signing ceremony was held at Samsung’s Asan manufacturing complex in Korea.

With the preliminary supply agreement, Samsung will add the Italian luxury sports car manufacturer to its client list, which includes the two German carmakers BMW and Audi.

In 2017, the Samsung Group unit began to ship 5.7-inch OLED panels to Audi designed for the Audi A8 model, a full-size luxury sedan.

The following year, it supplied OLED displays to the German carmaker to be equipped in its first full-electric model Audi e-tron.

In 2021, Samsung’s OLED panels were embedded in Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 electric sports utility vehicles. Last year, its OLED panels were supplied to BMW for the automaker’s first all-electric crossover Aceman.

At CES 2023 in January, Samsung showcased the New Digital Cockpit for the first time, its latest display model designed for automotive digital cockpits, targeting the self-driving vehicle market.

The cockpit display features a 700R curvature that delivers an optimal viewing experience in the driving mode so that the driver can focus on the road.

According to market tracker Omdia, the automotive OLED market is forecast to grow at an annual rate of 26% on average between 2023 and 2029 in terms of sales.

The market is projected to reach $270 million in sales in 2023 and jump to $1.17 billion by 2027.

The prospective OLED shipments to Ferrari point to Samsung Group’s extensive business partnership with Stellantis N.V.

Particularly, Ferrari Chairman John Elkann has been building a relationship with de facto Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee. 

Elkann is also the chairman of Stellantis and CEO of Exor, the holding company controlled by the Agnelli family. The Agnelli family, an Italian business dynasty, holds a controlling stake in Ferrari.

Lee served as an outside director of Exor Group between 2012 and 2017, after Elkann recommended him for the post.

Earlier this year, Harman, a US automotive parts maker wholly owned by Samsung Electronics Co., signed an agreement with Ferrari to supply its Ready Upgrade solutions, a suite of hardware and software that enables customers to add and upgrade vehicle features with their smartphones.

Samsung Group has also joined hands with Stellantis to jointly produce batteries.

Samsung SDI Co. and Stellantis have been building their joint battery plant in the US state of Indiana since March 22 of this year.

Stellantis was created in 2021 through the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and the French PSA group.

Italy's Exor Group also controls Italian carmaker Fiat Automobiles S.p.A; Juventus F.C., an Italian football club; and the Economist Group, a British media company.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article