LG Display to invest more than 8 billion euros in new OLED factory

LG Display is going to invest more than 10 trillion Korean won, converted 8.2 billion euros, in the construction of a new OLED factory. The factory, where both large and small OLED panels will be made, should be operational by mid-2018.

The display arm of the electronics group has announced that it will start with an investment of 1.5 billion euros to enable the construction of the factory. In the coming years, the total investment will rise to 8.2 billion euros. The factory will be named P10 and will be built in Paju, South Korea.

LG Display will produce OLED panels of various sizes for various product segments in the new factory, but it would mainly be large panels for TVs and flexible OLED screens for wearables and the automotive industry. LG Display also announced in July that it would build a factory for the production of foldable OLED panels. However, that is a different location.

LG is currently the only manufacturer that sells televisions with OLED panels on the consumer market. Panasonic also recently announced its first OLED television, but most likely uses a panel from LG. Samsung has stopped selling its OLED TVs, but still makes its own OLED panels for use in smaller devices. The screen technology, which is able to display perfect black, is used by several manufacturers in smartphones, wearables and screens or electronic viewfinders of cameras.

Various media suggest that LG is making the new factory to supply OLED screens to Apple. According to rumors, Apple would like to use OLED screens in its iPhones from 2018. LG Display does not comment on these stories, but is a major supplier to Apple. According to Bloomberg, the iPhone maker is LG Display’s largest customer and currently accounts for 25 percent of its sales. LG now supplies LCD panels to Apple.