On January 17, South Korean media reported that LG Display will expand its small and medium-sized OLED plant in Paju, South Korea. Small and medium-sized OLEDs are part of a 3.3 trillion won investment strategy announced by LG Display last year. After the core equipment is installed, LG's sixth-generation OLED production capacity is expected to triple by 2024, mainly supplying panels for iPhones and tablets.
According to industry sources, LG Display is preparing a large amount of equipment for its new 6th-generation OLED production line in Paju this fall.
It is reported that exposure equipment will be installed in the entire process of the P9 factory line (E6) and P10 factory line (E7) in Paju. Exposure machines are used to draw circuits by irradiating light on the display TFT glass substrate, so exposure machines are essential equipment for OLEDs, and the investment cost is as high as tens of billions of won.
LG Display plans to order more than 8 additional Japanese Canon exposure machines. Relevant reports show that by 2024, LG's sixth-generation and earlier OLED panel production capacity will increase to more than 700,000 units per year. It is understood that the LG Display P9 factory mainly produces small-sized OLED panels for smartphones, and the P10 factory produces medium-sized OLED panels for information technology (IT) related equipment including tablet computers.
Korean media revealed that LG Display confirmed last year that it would invest 3.3 trillion won to expand its small and medium-sized OLED business. At present, LG Display has shifted from the liquid crystal display (LCD) business to the OLED business. After focusing on large-size OLEDs, it is accelerating the deployment of small and medium-sized OLED businesses.
Korean media said that LG Display's large-scale expansion plan is to prepare for the supply of panels for Apple's next-generation smartphones and tablets. For Apple, the target smartphone sales in 2022 are more than 300 million units.
It is reported that Apple has been using OLED displays on smartphones since the end of 2018, and it is predicted that OLED will soon be introduced into iPad applications. Compared with the iPhone, the iPad uses a larger OLED panel, so it is expected to become a new opportunity for LG Display's OLED business.
LG Display plans to gradually introduce small and medium-sized OLED process equipment into Paju, and start mass production in 2024, focusing on serving major cooperative enterprises, but LG Display did not disclose the specific cooperative enterprises.
