Universal Display Corporation is engaged in the research, development and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (NASDAQ:OLED), technologies and materials for use in displays for wearables, smartphones, tablets and televisions, as well as solid-state lighting applications. It will specialize in large-sized OLED TV panels and flexible OLED panels that will be used in smart watches and auto displays.
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The company will begin construction of the new plant this year. Considering Apple’s fetish for quality and making highly durable devices, LG researchers will have to do a lot of work before OLED displays become viable for future iPhones.
LG said it will spend more than $8.7 billion over three years in a new OLED panel factory.
We believe the abovementioned event is a strategic fit for LG Display, given the strong prospects of the OLED Display market. The company says that the displays will come in different sizes from smartwatches and automotive displays to TVs. The total investment in the P10 plant is expected to reach more than KRW10 trillion, and with LG Display gradually expanding the scale of the production line based on customer demand and market conditions. Once completed, the plant will cover an area of just over 1 million square feet and stand more than 300 feet high. Plans call mostly for the installation of large size OLED lines that will be 9th generation or above along with flexible OLED lines at the new plant. Production starts in the facility in the first half of 2018. Canaccord Genuity upped their target price on Universal Display from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 6th.
IHS, a market research firm, forecasts that the global market OLED panel will grow to $29.1 billion in 2022, according to the press release. As per geographies, Korea, China, Japan and Europe have thriving markets for OLED TV models owing to increased adoption.
Today Apple Watch uses the OLED, and it is natural that it will soon make the transformation and use the power-efficient OLED technology in its handsets in the coming future.
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LG’s biggest competitor in the OLED space is Samsung, which not only produces them but utilizes the panels in most of its flagship phones. The company has already announced it will invest KRW1.05 trillion in a 6th generation flexible OLED production line in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk Province. This production line is anticipated to produce 7,500 sheets per month and mass production in the first six months of 2017.
