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Thu, June 1, 2023 | 01:55
Tech
Samsung, LG to halve China investment
삼성.LG, '중국 LCD 투자 줄인다'
Posted : 2013-08-06 16:43
Updated : 2013-08-06 16:43
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By Kim Yoo-chul

LG Display and Samsung Display, the world's two leading display manufacturers, have decided to halve investment for the construction of advanced display LCD panel plants in China, according to company officials, Tuesday.

The officials said that the decision was made because there are growing concerns about oversupply due to a combination of sluggish global demand for TVs and increased production by Chinese manufacturers.

LG Display, an affiliate of the LG Group, had originally planned to invest a total of $4 billion to build an LCD panel plant with a capacity of 120,000 glass sheets per month in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, which is scheduled to go online from the latter half of 2014.

However, it now plans to scale down this investment to $1.8 billion to build a factory that can produce 60,000 sheets per month.

"The investment for our first LCD panel plant will be much lower than initially planned because of an unfavorable market situation. The initial investment to the complex will be around some $1.8 billion," an executive at LG told The Korea Times requesting anonymity, Tuesday.

"But it does not necessarily mean that we are losing interest in the market. We will expand investment again once the market rebounds. China is the country that we shouldn't lose," said the executive, adding that LG hopes to get better tariff-related favors from the Chinese government after the facility goes online next year.

Samsung Display, a display-making affiliate of Samsung, also plans to lower its investment in LCD panel plant in the Chinese city of Suzhou to $1.5 to 1.6 billion.

"We've earlier planned to invest as much as $3 billion to build the facility. But we will miss the investment plan because the global LCD market is seeing an imbalance between supply and demand and continued oversupply," said a Samsung official, asking not to be named.

Samsung had planned to produce 100,000 glass sheets per month from its Suzhou plant after the facility begins operating next year. But it has decided to cut its initial monthly output to around 40,000 sheets.

The company, however, said that it has no plan to completely drop its Chinese LCD-making project because Samsung is embracing China as its "one of the top manufacturing bases."

In December 2010, the two Korean display titans won final approval from a Chinese government body to build cutting-edge LCD panel plants, there.

The supply glut is directly hitting the LCD prices. DisplaySearch, a leading market research firm said, the price for LCD panels sized between 40 inch and 42 inch dropped by 15 percent as of the end of July from two weeks earlier.

"The problem is that the global TV industry is falling down. People shifted towards tablets and smartphones. Samsung and LG won't increase investment until the demand for next-generation TVs such as OLED and UHD ones picks up," said an official at the Korea Display Industry Association (KDIA).

HP Chang, head of LCD research at Taipei-based Witsview, a research company, said, "The best time for investment in LCDs was sometime in 2009, when there was a tremendous growth in China thanks to the government's stimulus package. Samsung and LG may now be more conservative about their investment plans."



삼성.LG, '중국 LCD 투자 줄인다'

삼성디스플레이와 LG디스플레이가 중국 LCD 공장 투자를 대폭 줄인다. 

TV수요가 살아나고 있지 않은데다 내년부터 본격화될 중국 업체들의 생산량 증가로 시장이 다시 한번 ‘공급 과잉’에 빠질 가능성이 크기 때문이다. 또 유기발광다이오드 (OLED) 및 UHD TV와 같은 차세대 TV 수요가 향후 2~3년안에 크게 늘 가능성이 매우 작다는 것도 양 사가 중국 투자에 ‘속도조절’을 하고 있는 원인으로 분석된다.

6일, LG디스플레이의 한 관계자는 “내년 하반기부터 가동될 광저우 LCD 공장 월 생산 규모는 당초 12만장(기판 투입 기준)에서 6만장 수준으로 줄 것”이라며 “시장 수급 상황을 보아 가며 점차적으로 생산 규모를 늘려나갈 것”이라고 말했다.

초기 생산 물량이 줄어들면서 애초 LG디스플레이가 계획했던 40억달러 (우리돈 약 4조5천억원) 투자도 18억달러선으로 축소될 것으로 보인다.

삼성디스플레이도 사정은 크게 다르지 않다. 회사는 애초 30억달러를 쏟아부어 중국 쑤저우에 LG디스플레이와 마찬가지로 8세대 LCD 공장을 건설한다는 계획이었으나 시장 상황이 여의치 않아 초기 생산 규모를 대폭 줄이기로 했다.

사정에 밝은 한 관계자는 “삼성디스플레이 역시 쑤저우 공장의 초기 생산량을 월 10만장 수준에서 4만장 수준으로 낮추기로 했다”며 “투자 금액도 당초 금액에서 절반 가까이 줄어든 15억달러~16억달러선에 그칠 것”이라고 말했다.

업계에서는 세계 1위, 2위 디스플레이 업체가 야심차게 밀고 있는 중국 LCD 공장 투자 규모 축소에 ‘놀랍지 않다’는 반응을 보이고 있다.

당초 양사는 2009년 중국 정부에 LCD 공장 승인 요청을 했다. 이 때는 중국 지역의 LCD TV수요가 견조한 상승세를 보이고 있어서 패널 업체들에게는 투자에 적기였다.

그러나 중국 정부가 승인을 늦게 내준데다 중국 패널 업체들이 급격히 성장하면서 시장 수급이 엇갈리기 시작했다. 또 스마트폰, 태블릿등 시장이 폭발적으로 성장하면서 추가적인 TV수요 하락을 부채질 했다.

실제로 디스플레이 업계는 TV용 LCD 패널 가격이 급락하면서 패널 원가를 낮추기 위한 생존 경쟁에 돌입한 상황이다.

TV용 패널은 두달만에 15달러 가량 하락하는 등 하락세가 멈추지 않고 있는데다 하반기 특수 역시 공급 과잉으로 인해 마진 상승폭은 제한될 것으로 전망된다. 이에 따라 패널 업체들은 디스플레이 시장에서 원가를 줄이기 위해 그야말로 '사력'을 다 하고 있다.

시장 상황이 전반적으로 좋지 않지만 양사는 중국 LCD 투자를 지속. 확대한다는 방침이다.

LG의 한 관계자는 “내년 광저우 공장이 가동되면 집행 금액은 당초 예상보다는 적을 수 있으나 실기하거나 중국 사업에 대해 보수적으로 접근하는 것은 아니다”라며 “시장 상황이라는 변수가 있지만 당초 발표한대로 투자할 것”이라고 말했다.
Emailyckim@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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