But LG Display sees little impact of China factory strike on supply of display panels for iPad 3
Concerns are rising that the strike at LG Display’s factory in China may deal a blow to its supply of LCD panels to Apple if the labor dispute is prolonged, industry sources said on Wednesday.
About 8,000 Chinese workers at the company’s Nanjing plant have been staging a strike, demanding fair incomes compared to their Korean colleagues, as well as year-end incentives.
The strikers attempted to engage in negotiations with the management in a bid to settle the labor dispute, but the two groups reportedly failed to do so.
LG Display, the world’s second-largest flat panel maker, was selected as one of the display panel suppliers for the iPad 3, along with Samsung Electronics and Japan’s Sharp.
With some reports claiming that the three companies have already shipped about 3 million units of high-resolution flat panels to Apple’s manufacturing chain by November, the shipping of display panels were scheduled to continue as the newest version of Apple’s popular tablet PC is expected to launch between March and April.
“Although LG’s factory in Nanjing may not be the biggest in scale, the problem seems to be getting serious internally,” said an industry source who wished to remain anonymous. “With the factory employees there working on making display panels for Apple, we believe the strike will have a negative impact on the production process as a whole since the factory is not only responsible for manufacturing but also performs functions like research and development as well as after-services.”
However, an LG Display official in Seoul said the strike will not have an impact on the production of LCD displays considering that the Nanjing factory focuses on the production of display panels for TVs and computer monitors.
He also said assembly lines in other factories could be used for module manufacturing, while confirming the strike has been ongoing for three days.
November and December are normally times when LCD manufacturers cut down on production, but the strike will inevitably deal a blow to LG Display which has been suffering from slowing industry demand and low display panel prices.
Founded in July 2002, LG Display Nanjing Co., located in Nanjing Economic and Technological Development Zone, was the first overseas module factory for the firm. The factory is responsible for researching, designing, manufacturing and selling LCD products as well as giving after-service. It is considered to be among the biggest module factory in the global LCD industry.
By Cho Ji-hyun
(sharon@heraldcorp.com)
<한글 기사>
LG 디스플레이, 中파업으로 아이패드 패널 공급 차질 생기나
LG 디스플레이 중국 난징공장에서의 파업이 3일 째로 접어들면서 파업이 장기화 될 경우 내년 출시될 아이패드 3의 LCD 패널 공급 차질에 대한 우려가 제기되고 있다.
LG 디스플레이 중국 난징 공장의 약 8천 여명의 근로자들은 지난 26일부터 연말 성과급과 임금 인상 등을 이유로 파업에 들어갔다.
27일에는 경영진과 협상에 들어갔지만 합의점을 찾지 못했다고 현지 언론은 전했다. LG 디스플레이는 중국 난징, 광저우와 연태에 3개의 모듈생산공장이 있다.
LG 디스플레이는 삼성전자, 일본의 샤프와 함께 애플 아이패드 3에 LCD 패널 공급업체로 선정된 것으로 알려졌다. 타 보도에 따르면 LG 디스플레이를 포함한 3개 업체는 지난 달까지 30,000 개의 LCD 패널을 애플에 공급한 것으로 전해진다.
아이패드 3가 내년 3월이나 4월 중 선보일 것으로 알려진 가운데 LG 디스플레이 난징공장의 파업 장기화는 LCD 패널공급업체에 타격을 미칠 것으로 보인다.
이에 대해 LG 디스플레이 관계자는 난징의 모듈생산공장은 단순공정라인이며, 소공정이기 때문에 아이패드용 패널을 만드는 데 영향이 없을 것이라고 본다고 했다.
또, 영향이 있더라고 타 공장의 다른 라인으로 그 작업을 옮길 수 있다고 말했다. 그는 또한 난징공장이 TV와 모니터용 패널을 만드는 데 주력하고 있다며 확대해석을 경계했다.
