New iPad Pro with OLED panel (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – In the first half of this year, LG Display’s sales of panels for information technology (IT) devices such as tablets and laptops surged, comprising over 40 percent of the company’s total revenue.
This significant growth is largely attributed to the timely supply of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for Apple’s latest iPad Pro, which has been a pivotal factor in driving the company’s performance.
According to LG Display’s semi-annual report released on August 15, IT panels accounted for 42.3 percent of the company’s sales in the first half of the year, marking a 5.5 percentage point increase from the end of last year, when they constituted 36.8 percent of sales. Compared to the same period last year, the increase is 2.2 percentage points.
In monetary terms, LG Display’s sales in the first half of this year reached KRW 5.06 trillion, which is more than KRW 1.4 trillion higher than the same period last year. This impressive performance suggests that the company is on track for a record-breaking year, having already achieved 64 percent of last year’s total sales of KRW 7.85 trillion.
This uptick in sales is primarily driven by the mass production of OLED panels for IT products. Notably, Apple’s new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models, released in May, were the first to feature LG Display’s advanced ‘Two Stack Tandem OLED’ technology.
This cutting-edge display, with two layers of OLED emitting layers, has given LG Display a competitive edge. The company is reportedly supplying OLEDs for both models, securing a larger share of the market compared to its rival, Samsung Display, which only supplies panels for the 11-inch model.
“In the IT OLED segment, we expanded shipments in the second quarter after stabilizing mass production based on our leadership in tandem technology,” Kim Sung-hyun, LG Display’s Chief Financial Officer, noted during the company’s second-quarter earnings call last month.
Another key development for LG Display this year is the emergence of its automotive display segment, which began reporting results separately for the first time.
Previously grouped under the Mobile-Other category, the auto segment has started to show significant promise. In the first half of this year, the segment contributed 9.3 percent of total sales, or KRW 1.11 trillion, and is expected to soon reach double digits.
LG Display’s automotive offerings include OLEDs and software-driven vehicle (SDV) optimized display solutions tailored for global automakers. Signature products in this category include the ‘Advanced Thin OLED’ (ATO), which is 20 percent thinner than conventional glass substrate OLEDs, and the ultra-large ‘Pillar-to-Pillar LTPS LCD,’ which spans the entire dashboard.
Models experience an autonomous driving concept car with an 18-inch slidable OLED and 57-inch pillar-to-pillar LCD on display at ‘K-Display 2024’. (Yonhap)
The company also offers the world’s largest automotive displays, including a 57-inch Pillar-to-Pillar LCD and an 18-inch Slidable OLED for vehicles.
Meanwhile, the company’s mobile panel sales have seen a decline, accounting for 25.7 percent of revenue in the first half of this year, down from 42.9 percent at the end of last year. This decrease is largely due to the anticipated high volume of mobile OLED panel shipments in the latter half of the year.
LG Display is also reportedly set to supply OLED panels for Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, reinforcing its partnership with the tech giant.
“While the overall smartphone market is slowing, the OLED-based smartphone segment, which we focus on, is expected to see slight growth in the future,” said Baek Seung-ryong, head of small-size planning and management at LG Display.
“Over the past two years, we faced initial supply challenges with mobile OLED panels for North American customers, but this year, we’re poised to deliver a more reliable supply with timely mass production.”
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
