LG Display to invest $8.7 billion in New OLED Plant

The first stage will cost 1.84 trillion won to start construction on the project. The plant is mainly defined to develop large OLED TV panels and flexible OLED panels. Much of the growth could be fueled by reports that Apple plans to adopt OLED screens on its iPhone starting from 2018.

The company chose to build the new panel plant in anticipation of the demand for OLED panels over the next several years.

Universal Display Corporation is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (NASDAQ:OLED), technologies and materials for use in displays for wearables, smartphones, tablets and televisions, as well as solid-state lighting applications. Notably, the total investment made by the company encompasses the construction of the foundations for clean rooms, infrastructure for water and power supplies along with the P10 building.

Apple is in the process of shifting to a new type of display technology from 2018 when it will transcend from LCD to OLED based displays for its iPhone lineup.

Remember all the recent reports saying that while the iPhone 7 won’t have an OLED display, it’s likely that Apple will come out with an OLED iPhone by 2018? It is expected to be the size of 14 football fields and about 328 feet high. Apple is said to have informed its suppliers about this plan while LG Display is also preparing capacity upgrades to make high-volume production of OLED displays possible.

IHS, a market research firm, forecasts that the global market OLED panel will grow to $29.1 billion in 2022, according to the press release.

“LG Display’s investment in P10 Plant is a historical investment for the industry since it will not only help expand the OLED market but also accelerate the development of future display technologies”, said LG Display President and Chief Executive Sang Beom Han. Currently Apple’s only OLED panels are in the Apple Watch and they’re manufactured by LG. The Apple Watch is so far the only Apple product using an OLED display instead of a regular LCD screen, but reports have suggested that in the next couple of years Apple will begin using the more power-efficient OLED technology to a greater extent.

LG’s biggest competitor in the OLED space is Samsung, which not only produces them but utilizes the panels in most of its flagship phones. The 6th- generation production line will produce 7,500 sheets per month and is expected to start mass production in the first half of 2017.