LG Display "Operating Chinese LCD Factory at 50% Capacity"

LG Display stated in its conference call held alongside the Q1 earnings announcement on the 26th regarding its LCD business exit strategy, "Production at domestic LCD TV factories ended last year," and added, "This year, we are operating the Chinese 8th-generation LCD factory at about 50% capacity." They also explained, "We are exploring various meaningful utilization plans for the halted LCD TV factories," and "The Korean 7th-generation LCD TV factory is being prepared for equipment sale, and for the remaining factories, we are reviewing profit maximization strategies such as repurposing, sales, and strategic partnerships."

The medium-sized OLED sector, including tablet OLEDs currently under investment, is expected to have a production and supply system ready by 2024. LG Display said, "Through entering the OLED tablet market in the first half of 2024, we anticipate capturing more than 50% of strategic customers' tablet products," and added, "Within OLED tablet products, we expect to achieve a market share exceeding 60%."

Regarding the positive effects of entering the medium-sized OLED sector, they expect improvements in profitability and a reduction in earnings volatility. Since panel prices are about twice those of existing LCDs, there is significant potential for overall revenue growth, and the balanced sales flow between the first and second halves of the year for tablets compared to smartphones can also help reduce LG Innotek’s earnings volatility.

Meanwhile, concerning the order-based business segment that LG Display is increasing its focus on, they stated, "Tablet, smartphone, watch, and automotive displays fall under the order-based business." They added, "In particular, automotive displays recorded orders exceeding 3 trillion KRW in the first quarter alone, resulting in a 20% growth in order backlog compared to the end of last year, enabling us to expect sales exceeding 2 trillion KRW by the end of this year and double sales growth within three years."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.