LG Display has announced a plan to invest $1 billion into its OLED panel manufacturing business. It plans to increase the production of OLED panels which will be used in upcoming TVs, monitors and laptops.
In an article from the Korean Times LG Display confirmed that it is set to raise 1.2925 trillion won ($971 million), with a spokesperson confirming that "The company is increasing the proportion of OLED products in all business areas, ranging from large, medium and small".
Going further into the company's plan, the spokesperson explained that "from 2024, the large-scale area is expected to expand its customer base, and the medium-scale area plans to start mass production of OLED products for IT devices. In the small area, we expect the shipment volume to increase based on the expanded production capacity in 2023". That might sound vague, but the bottom line is that LG is planning on producing more OLEDs for practically all use cases.
So what has inspired LG to go forth with this OLED expansion? The company reported its first operating quarter profit after seven consecutive losses, meaning the demand for OLEDs might be getting even bigger. The TV market is in a unique position in general, as sales figures soared during the COVID-19 lockdowns but have since plummeted. Could this return to profit hint at a wider resurgence for the TV market as a whole?
It's entirely possible, as we have to remember that LG Display doesn't make OLED panels exclusively for LG Electronics. In fact, practically every TV manufacturer uses LG OLED panels, including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Hisense and even Samsung, with which LG has just penned a five-year OLED panel supply deal with LG. That's not even taking into account all of the laptop and monitor manufacturers who will also benefit from this expansion.
After scaling down production in 2023, LG Display is setting a goal to produce 20 per cent more OLED panels this year compared to last year. This could result in manufacturers expanding their OLED TV lines (such as the new Samsung S85D, for example), or perhaps we'll finally get cheaper OLED TVs.
MORE:
Read our LG C4 hands on review
And our Panasonic Z95A hands on review
As well as our picks for the best OLED TVs
