LG Display Guangzhou OLED plant begins mass production

LG Display has begun mass-production at its 8.5th generation (2,200mm x 2,500mm) OLED panel production plant in Guangzhou, China, raising expectations that panel prices may fall in 2021.

LG Display is currently producing 70,000 sheets per month at its OLED panel production plant in Paju, Korea, and this production capability will almost double to 130,000 sheets monthly given Guangzhou’s capacity to make 60,000 sheets per month. Production capacity will eventually be expanded to 90,000 sheets per month.

Significantly, LG Display now has the two OLED panel production bases in the world, and greater capacity could herald a slide in retail prices for consumer displays.

LG Display’s Guangzhou OLED panel plant will focus on manufacturing large-size high-resolution OLED products including 48-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, and 77-inch panels.

“Large-size OLED business is the essential growth engine of LG Display for the future,” said James Hoyoung Jeong, CEO of LG Display. “As the new Guangzhou OLED panel plant begins mass-production, combined with our Paju OLED plant, we are able to accelerate the growth of the large-size OLED business in terms of both quality and quantity. This will enable more rapid adoption of OLED displays in the market. As the OLED market leader, LG Display will further strengthen its position by making constant efforts to develop differentiated products, thereby widening the technological gap between the company and the other following players in the industry.

LG Display is able to produce over 10 million OLED TV panels annually based on a 55-inch panel by maximizing the production capacity of its Paju and Guangzhou plants. Profitability is expected to improve as the company secures an economy of scale with the production capacity increase.

There are now 19 TV brands manufacturing OLED TVs. According to global market research company Omdia, around 4.4 million OLED TV units will be sold this year, growing to over 12 million units in 2025.