October 30, 2024

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South Korean panel maker LG Display will accelerate its shift from the LCD to OLED business with a new production line in China and expects to get a boost from the country’s demand potential, a senior official said.

LGD has been looking for ways to expand its OLED business in the global market amid tougher competition with Chinese rivals in the LCD sector. China’s BOE beat LG Display to become the world’s top LCD maker in terms of shipments last year. 

“OLED TVs are a game changer that can replace LCD TVs, which have been suffering from falling market prices,” Vice President Ko Kyu-young of LGD’s global promotion unit said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

Ko was on a mission to promote LGD’s cutting-edge OLED displays during the China Information Technology Expo 2019 held in Shenzhen, hoping to expand its foothold in one of the fastest growing markets.

During the tech show attended by over 100,000 visitors, the Korean display maker introduced an 88-inch 8K Crystal Sound OLED panel, which can make the screen double as a speaker.

LGD highlighted that OLED displays stand out from LCD rivals as they are capable of reaching out to a wider scope of products beyond TVs thanks to their flexible characteristics, as seen in rollable TVs made with OLED technology.

Its overseas marketing efforts are especially important this year as the company is set to start operation of a new OLED plant in Guangzhou in the third quarter.

LGD said it will roll out 60,000 OLED sheets per month at the Guangzhou factory in the initial stage, which would increase its total OLED sheet output monthly capacity to 130,000 units this year when combined with its production line at its Korean factory in Paju, south of Seoul.

The LGD executive expressed hope for rising demand for larger OLED TVs sized 55 inches and higher in China, the world’s biggest market for TVs, as a growing number of Chinese TV makers are turning to OLED panels instead of adopting LCD, including Skyworth, Konka, Changhong, TCL and Hisense.

“China will play a great role in the expansion of the market for OLED TVs, thanks to the rising consumption power of the middle class in the country,” Ko said. “While Europe is the world’s biggest market for OLED TVs, China will catch up in the region soon.”

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)