On March 17, LG Display, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, announced that it will build the world’s first 5th generation (1000 x 1200mm) OLED light panel manufacturing facility in Gumi, South Korea. The company expects the new facility to be up and running by the first half of 2017 and have an initial input capacity of 15,000 glass substrates per month. Depending on market demand, the production capacity can be expanded. The new facility will produce a wide range of OLED light panels, including what the company refers to as “giant” panels that will enable them to compete in all areas of the general lighting market. At present, the company is focusing on office tasklighting applications as well as decorative lighting for high-end retail and luxury hospitality markets.
The investment in this new facility follows LG Display’s acquisition of the OLED light business of its sister company, LG Chem in December 2015. LG first entered the OLED market in 2000 when it started an R&D program with the Group’s chemicals affiliate, LG Chem. LG Display produce its first OLED light panels in 2012The LG Display press release noted that, “According to UBI Research, a market research firm, the OLED light market is expected to grow rapidly from US $135 million in 2016 to US $1.6 billion in 2020.” In a prepared statement, Mr. Young Kwon Song, Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy & Marketing Group at LG Display, said, “Our OLED light business will further strengthen LG Display’s commitment to nurture OLED as the future growth engine. Based on LG Display’s strong track-record and know-how in OLED display business, we will create synergy with the OLED light business and maintain our strong position in the overall OLED industry going forward.”
