LG to boost OLED signage sales next year

LG Electronics’ commercial display products are installed in an underground passage near the COEX exhibition center in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, in this file photo. The company said it will boost the sales of organic light-emitting diode signs in the business-to-business sector next year. / Courtesy of LG Electronics

By Yoon Sung-won

LG Electronics will push for sales of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) commercial display products for the business-to-business (B2B) sector next year, tapping into technology advances made by its affiliate LG Display, a company official said Sunday.

“LG Electronics will launch a full-fledged effort in the OLED digital signs business starting next year,” the official said.

The nation’s second-largest electronics manufacturer said it will start with large-size signs for public places.

“We plan to gradually expand our boost to wider product portfolio starting from large signs installed at public places such as international airports,” he said.

As LG Display holds a leading position in OLED display technology, LG Electronics has mulled over how to apply this to extra profits in the B2B sector, complementing consumer electronics devices such as televisions and smartphones.

LG Electronics said the decision came as manufacturing issues have been settled thanks to the advances.

“We believe most of the problems such as enhancing yield rate and product durability have been solved. We have decided to expand our commercial display business against this backdrop,” the LG Electronics official said.

During IFA 2015 in Germany, the largest electronics fair in Europe, LG Electronics Kwon Bong-seok said Sept. 4 that the company will seek to expand digital sign sales as a part of its drive in the OLED display business.

The company has said it plans to solidify its premium brand image in the sector, promoting leading OLED display technology. It said it will strengthen the sign lineup, adding to the 2-milimeter-thin “video wall” products and digital signs equipped with LG Electronics’ device operating system, Web OS.

“Our new OLED products will include wide ones in the form of video walls, too,” the LG Electronics official said.

Meanwhile, expectations are that it will take more time for LG Electronics to speed up the penetration of its OLED signs to wider and smaller applications such as bus stop information systems.

This is because OLEDs cost more to produce compared to liquid crystal displays, meaning that it still remains to be seen if the company’s drive in the B2B sector will be a new major income generator.