LG Display seeks rebound in 2Q
By Lee Min-hyung
LG Display CEO and Vice Chairman Han Sang-beom speaks at a press conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Wednesday (KST). / Courtesy of LG Display
LAS VEGAS ― LG Display is seeking to rebound in the second quarter by diversifying its product lines and pushing ahead with its differentiation strategy.
“It is true that we will continue to suffer from an oversupply of displays by manufacturers in China and Taiwan until the first quarter,” LG Display CEO and Vice Chairman Han Sang-beom told reporters during a press conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) on Wednesday (KST).
The remarks came as Chinese and Taiwanese display makers are increasing production, posing a growing threat to local panel makers including LG Display. The world’s largest display panel maker posted 330 billion won ($290 million) in operating profit in July-September in the third quarter last year, down 30 percent from a year ago.
“But we will tackle the issue by continuing to introduce differentiated products such as the organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) TVs,” he said. “On top of that, the upcoming summer sports season will expand display panel demand. We believe we can rise again in the second quarter, overcoming our recent sluggish performance.”
Han visited Las Vegas to hold a press conference with Korean media, and have closed-door meetings with international clients a day before the official start of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
“We expect global display panel supplies to exceed demand by some 13 percent this year,” he said. “When the gap widens to more than 10 percent, we regard the display market as being in oversupply.”
But he expressed hopes, saying the oversupply issue varies for each product.
“For example, demand for large-sized displays of more than 60 inches wide are expected to grow this year. That’s why we believe the future is still bright for us. We will keep launching large OLED displays that no other company can do at the moment.”
“We are going to ship more than one million OLED TV panels this year, and will also increase the number to 1.5 million in 2017,” he said. Last year, the company shipped some 400,000 OLED TV panels.
During the press conference, LG Display also unveiled its product diversification strategy into displays for automobiles and signage.
In particular, the company said it will expand partnerships with clients especially in Japan and China for their signage business.
“We are also seeking to create a signage display market with our OLED products,” the company chief said. “In the signage market, we will focus on increasing market share in the video wall market. We are planning to be No. 1 in the OLED signage market this year.”
Han said he will meet Apple Chief Operation Officer (COO) Jeff Williams on Saturday, on the sidelines of CES 2016.
“Apple is an important client for us,” he said. “The meeting is just a regular one.”
But he dispelled rumors that he will discuss grave issues such as its supply of OLED panels for new iPhones.
“There will not be any business agenda to be discussed at the meeting,” he said.
LG Display has showcased its latest products before the press conference, which includes its 139-inch S-shaped vertical tiling OLED. The massive-sized display consists of eight OLED panels of 65-inches, the company said. At its commercial booth, the company also unveiled displays for vehicles and 18-inch rollable displays which the company believes will attract the most attention at the tech fair this year.
Debate between OLED and quantum dot
As expected, the fierce rivalry has continued between OLED and quantum dot to define the next-generation display technology at this year’s CES.
“It is meaningless to compare quantum dot and OLED, as quantum dot is based on liquid crystal display (LCD),” he said.
But the LG Display chief declined to comment about the details of Samsung’s quantum dot SUHD TV.
“We can even produce quantum dot displays at the moment, but will not talk about our competitors,” he said.
The remark came a day after Samsung Electronics unveiled its latest SUHD TV with quantum dot display. Samsung previously said it does not feel the need to produce OLED-based televisions, as quantum dot display, in itself, is good enough to compare with OLEDs.