According to media reports, Jeong Ho-young, CEO of South Korean display panel manufacturer LG Display, said today that LG Display will stop domestic LCD TVs in Korea due to falling LCD prices and global oversupply Production of panels.
In fact, before halting domestic LCD TV production, LG Display had cut costs last year, replaced its CEO, and launched a voluntary layoff program.
CEO Jeong Ho-Young said during the CES show today: “We will end LCD TV production in South Korea by the end of this year and then focus on LCD TV production in China.”
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LG Display bases
LG currently operates two LCD TV production bases, one in South Korea and the other in China. In October last year, LG stated that it plans to “reduce” its two LCD TV panel production lines in South Korea and is studying various options.
In the third quarter of last year, LCD TV business accounted for 32% of LG’s revenue, down from 41% in the previous quarter. This is mainly due to the decrease in shipments of LCD TV panels. Between January and October last year, LG Display lost money for three consecutive quarters. However, CEO Jeong Ho-Young said that the company’s performance is expected to “further improve” in the second half of this year.
While terminating the South Korean LCD TV production, LG Display’s goal is to shift its focus to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. LG Display expects that new technologies will account for 50% of the company’s revenue by 2021, up from about 30% in 2018.
Jeong Ho-Young said, “We plan to set up a system to mass-produce OLED products at our Chinese factory by the end of the first quarter of this year.” He also said that LG Display does not intend to use Korean LCD TV production lines for OLED panel production.
Meanwhile, LG’s rival Samsung Display said last October that it had suspended one of its LCD production lines in South Korea. In addition, Samsung Display also announced that it will invest 13.1 trillion won (approximately $11.25 billion) to upgrade its production lines.
