LG Display will start using a new production line of plastic OLED panels this year

By admin On Jan 23, 2018

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LG Display has indicated that it will start manufacturing plastic OLED panels in the third quarter of this year. In contrast to the larger panels for OLED televisions, these panels are mainly intended for smartphones.

LG expects to start a production line for the plastic OLED panels at its P10 factory in Paju, north of Seoul. Reuters reported. In the market for OLED panels for smartphones, Samsung is by far the largest manufacturer, with a market share of 98 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, LG Display’s turnover increased by 2 percent compared to the third quarter last year, to 5.4 billion euros. This increase is due to increased deliveries of large LCD and OLED panels for televisions, according to LG Display. This result is still a 10 percent decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2016.

The profit was converted to more than 34 million euros, a decrease of 92 percent compared to the third quarter. The annual profit decreased by 95 percent compared to 2016. According to the manufacturer, these sharp declines are the result of continuously falling prices, unfavorable exchange rates and investments in R&D to expand OLED production.

Panels for televisions accounted for 40 percent of sales in the fourth quarter of 2017. Panels for mobile devices, tablets and laptops, and for desktop monitors accounted for 28, 18 and 14 percent of sales, respectively.

Last year, LG Display announced that it would double the production capacity of OLED screens for mobile phones. A total of 6 billion euros will be invested, of which 3.9 billion euros will be used for the production of smaller sheets, with a size of 1.5 by 1.85 meters, intended for plastic OLED panels.

In contrast to the panels for, for example, OLED televisions, plastic OLED panels do not use a glass substrate, but plastic. As a result, the plastic OLED panels are twice as thin as the glass OLED panels and they are also much more flexible, so that they should last longer and should not break as quickly.