LG displays commitment to OLED

LG Display, the world’s second-largest display maker, yesterday announced plans to invest 706 billion won ($652 million) in OLED TV facilities in efforts to strengthen its leadership in OLED technology.

The investment in an eighth-generation OLED TV manufacturing line, set to be installed in the company’s Paju plant in Gyeonggi, is scheduled to begin in the first quarter, LG Display said in a press release.

Mass production is set to begin in the first half of 2014 at a monthly capacity of 26,000 input sheets, according to the display maker.

The investment plan comes as global manufacturers are ramping up efforts to gain a bigger stake in the market for premium TVs, such as OLED TVs and ultra HD TVs.

The display maker’s affiliate LG Electronics began pre-orders for its 55-inch OLED TVs last month, racing ahead of rival Samsung Electronics in rolling out the large-display OLED TVs.

Earlier this month, the TV maker also announced plans to boost flat-panel TV sales by 15 percent on-year in 2013.

Worldwide shipments of OLED panels are expected to hit 29.96 million units by 2018, increasing more than 200-fold from 130,000 units forecast for this year, according to the data by market researcher NPD DisplaySearch.

By amount, OLED panel shipments are projected to reach $10.02 billion by 2018, compared with $295.75 million this year, according to the data. Yonhap