LG Display to finalize OLED investment soon

 LAS VEGAS ― LG Display chief executive Han Sang-beom said Tuesday that the company will make a final decision on its additional investment scheme involving the next-generation OLED displays by early next month.

The move comes as the company projects that the market will ship up to 3 million units of its latest OLED displays by 2015.

"Commercial sales of OLED TVs will not number too high this year and we expect the industry to sell around 600,000-700,000 units next year," Han said.

“Based on the belief that a new market will be created when the market penetration rate reaches 1 percent, it will be possible by about 2015.”

The OLED displays are 4 millimeters thick and weigh 3.5 kilograms, about one-fifth slimmer and lighter than the liquid-crystal display panels.

“The price is high because it is a premium product and the market is in its early stage. However, it will be in the competitive level within two to three years,” said Han.

The president, who is serving his second year in office, also said that the firm expects the industrial sales of the Ultra High Definition TVs to hit 500,000 units by the end of the year.

LG has unveiled three UHD TVs of different sizes at the annual electronics trade show: the 55-inch, 65-inch and 84-inch displays.

“The lineup of UHD TVs has gotten stronger and the group is fast replacing the next-generation TV sets even if it is not an immediate replacement,” he said.

In terms of flexible displays, the display maker is getting ready to roll them out by the latter half of this year, according to Han.

“We’ve had a late start compared to our rivals, but we’re in full preparation mode with the target set at the second half of 2013,” he stated.

LG’s competitor Samsung Electronics is reported to have completed the development of a handset equipped with a flexible display and is in the process of adding improvements. 

By Cho Ji-hyun
Korea Herald correspondent

(sharon@heraldcorp.com)