According to Bloomberg LG Display is supplying LCD panels to no other than rival Samsung, replacing a Sharp-Foxconn joint venture as supplier to the biggest TV maker in the world.

If the unnamed "people with direct knowledge of the matter" are in the right such a deal would be a first for the two S. Korean rivals. Officially the two companies are "in talks" on LCD supply, but no further elaboration is available as yet. The Bloomberg report adds LG is ready to supply as many as 3 million LCD panels to Samsung in 2016.

On the other hand Sakai Display, a display producer controlled by Sharp and Foxconn, is cutting back the supply of LCD panels to TV makers (including Samsung), bringing about supply shortage and a subsequent increase in display prices. Meanwhile Sharp and Foxconn (under the Hon Hai umbrella) are said to be planning a move to the US, part of a foreign expansion of the Sharp brand.

Currently Sharp is also cutting output of LCD panels in favour of producing high-end OLED displays for smartphone and tablet use. The move hurt a number of TV makers, including Samsung, who together with two other companies took to a New York court to demand compensation worth $429 million.

Go LG Display Said to Reach LCD Panel Supply Pact With Samsung (Bloomberg)