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LG Display to inject additional $2.54 bil. into OLED

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LG Display's P10 display manufacturing plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of LG Display
LG Display's P10 display manufacturing plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of LG Display

By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Display is trying to widen the technological gap with its Chinese rivals in the OLED sector as it plans to invest 3 trillion won ($2.54 billion) in manufacturing its next-generation OLED panels at its P10 plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, the display maker said Tuesday.

The world's largest OLED panel maker said the investment in its 10.5th-generation production line is aiming to capitalize on the growing demand for large-sized OLED TVs and accelerate its transition from LCD to OLED business because budget Chinese makers are saturating the LCD market.

"LG Display decided to aggressively expand the company's large-sized OLED production infrastructure as the demand for OLED has grown sharply along with the recognition of its premium value, creating new opportunities and new markets," the company said.

OLED is self-emissive and makes TVs using the panel much more stylish. As OLED TVs don't need bulky backlights like LCD TVs, they have been regarded as next-generation. LG shipped 2.9 million OLED panels to TV makers in 2018 and the figure is estimated to grow to 3.8 million in 2019. According to data by market researcher IHS, the sales volume of large-sized OLED panels in the global market is expected to increase to 10 million by 2022.

The company added the next-generation production line is also capable of mass producing premium OLED products such as wallpaper OLED and rollable OLED to create a new market by expanding applications that can use OLED panels.

On the 10.5th-generation manufacturing line, the company will mainly produce large-sized OLED panels that are bigger than 65 inches. It will begin producing 30,000 sheets per month starting the first half of 2022 and produce an additional 15,000 sheets per month from the first half of 2023.

For the next-generation production line, LG Display made its initial investment of 1.84 trillion won in 2015 and injected an additional 2.8 trillion won to achieve a monthly production capacity of 30,000 sheets.

Though the company announced its ambitious investment plan, the display maker has been struggling with its business due to a decline in the price of LCD panels, which still accounts for about 70 percent of the company's revenue.

In its second quarter earnings report, the display maker logged an operating loss of 368.7 billion won with 5.87 trillion won in sales. The company said it logged the operating loss due to falling demand for TV and mobile display panels and increased expenditure for improving its capabilities in mobile display panels.


Baek Byung-yeul baekby@koreatimes.co.kr


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