Bird’s eye imagery of LG Display Co.’s OLED factory in Guangzhou. (image: LG Display)
SEOUL, Jul. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Display Co. said Tuesday that operations at its OLED factory in China will be put into full swing next month to ramp up its production capacity of premium panels in the key market.
LG Display has invested about 5 trillion won (US$4.2 billion) to build the Guangzhou factory for the production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) sheets for large TVs, they noted.
“Ahead of the mass production, the Guangzhou factory will begin test runs this month to check the quality of OLED panels,” an LG Display official said.
The company said earlier it plans to roll out 60,000 OLED sheets per month at the Guangzhou factory in the initial stage, which would increase its total monthly OLED sheet output capacity to 130,000 units this year when combined with its production line at its South Korean factory in Paju, north of Seoul.
The global leader in OLED panels has been expanding investment in OLED panels to shift from the traditional liquid crystal display (LCD) panels that have been plagued by falling demand and supply glut, partly from Chinese producers.
LG Display suffered an operating loss of 132 billion won in the first quarter due to low LCD panel prices amid tougher competition with Chinese brands.
The average price of the firm’s 50-inch LCD for TVs dropped 23 percent on-year in the first quarter, according to WitsView, a division of TrendForce.
This year, LG Display has vowed to speed up the transition from LCD to OLED to get a bigger share of the premium TV and smartphone market.
The company shipped 2.9 million units of large OLED panels last year, which accounted for over 20 percent of its total sales, turning to surplus for the first time in five years since the panels’ launch.
LG Display expected the sales ratio to exceed 30 percent this year.
Market researcher IHS Markit predicted the ratio of OLED TVs will rise from 5.7 percent of the total market in 2018 to 10.4 percent in 2023.
(Yonhap)
