New 8.5-Gen OLED Panel Plant Part of LG Plan for 10 Million-Unit Production by 2022

LG Display’s 8.5-generation OLED panel plant opened in Guangzhou, China, with an initial 60,000-sheet production capacity of 55-inch and larger panels, growing to 90,000 by 2021, it said Friday. The facility, operated by LG Display High-Tech China, will primarily produce 55-, 65- and 77-inch panels, it said. LG Display forecasts it will make more than 10 million OLED panels annually by 2022 from its operations in China and Paju, South Korea, including a 10.5-gen plant in Paju scheduled to open in 2022. Global OLED TV sales are expected to reach 5.5 million units this year, growing to 7.1 million units in 2021, it said, citing IHS Markit. Demand is being driven by a growing number of brands selling OLED TVs, now at 15 and expected to reach 16 next year when Vizio sets reach the market, LG said. Current LG Display customers include LG Electronics, Sony, Philips, Hisense, Skyworth, Changhong and Konka. The company expects its large-size OLED panel business to report its first annual profit this year.