Published : Feb. 8, 2017 - 16:14
LG Display is reviewing building the world’s first 10th-generation OLED assembly line in Paju, the tech firm said Wednesday.
If the plan is finalized, the 10th-generation assembly line -- which is optimized for 65-inch (165 centimeters) television panels -- will be producing the world’s first and largest organic light-emitting diode panels. Currently, LG’s 55-inch (140 centimeters) panels from the 8.5-generation assembly line are the biggest such panels.
Since the end of 2015, LG Display has been building relevant facilities in the Paju plant for small and large OLED panels with some 10 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in investment. It has, however, not revealed any specifics regarding the type of the assembly line.
“We are reviewing whether to build a new 10th-generation assembly line in the Paju plant,” a LG Display official told The Korea Herald.
“The decision will be confirmed in the first half and mass production will begin in the second quarter of next year,” he said, admitting to the market trend of seeking bigger TV panels.
(Yonhap)
Industry watchers said LG is highly likely to build the 10th-generation OLED line because the company needs to pull ahead of its Chinese rivals, which recently began heavy investment in large liquid crystal display panels.
Chinese tech giant BOE recently completed the world’s biggest 10.5-generation production line for LCD panels in Hefei. China Star Optoelectronics Technology also announced in August that it would invest around 8 trillion won in Shenzhen for 11th-generation LCD panel lines. Taiwanese company Hon Hai Group, which acquired Sharp, also plans to build a 10.5-generation LCD plant in Guangzhou.
“LG Display is expected to set itself apart from the China’s 10.5-generation LCD panels with supersized panels for OLED TVs and small plastic OLED panels in the Paju plant,” said Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Investment & Securities.
LG said it is reviewing developing vacuum evaporation facilities jointly with local equipment company YAS for 10th-generation OLED panels. YAS is LG’s partner company, which in the past supplied vacuum evaporation facilities for 8th-generation OLED panels.
By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)