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OLED Daily Issue, April 24, 2019

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▶ ‘Other in 6 months’…BOE, 4th time to invest in flexible OLEDs. (Electronic Times Internet)

(Full text of articles: http://www.etnews.com/20190423000190)

BOE is going to start construction of its fourth 6th generation flexible OLED plant soon. It is planning to invest a total of 46.5 billion yuan (approximately 7.9 trillion won) to have a monthly production capacity of 48,000 sheets. Although the display market is slumping and demand for flexible OLEDs for smartphones is falling short of expectations, it is speeding up aggressive investments and expanding production capacity.

According to Chinese media on the 23rd, BOE is going to start constructing its fourth flexible OLED plant called ‘B15’ that will be invested in Fuzhou. It is heard that it will hold an event soon and make official investments.

As BOE is going to carry out its investments in B15, it has become clear that it will have production capacity of world’s largest 6th generation flexible OLEDs by beating Samsung Display.

 

▶ ” LCD TV panel price rebound…accelerates large OLED conversion” (The Korea Economic Daily)

(Full text of articles: https://www.hankyung.com/finance/article/2019042322206)

“The price of LCD TV panels increased +0.7% in second half of April compared to first half.” said KB Securities on 23rd.

“The price of LCD TV panels in the second half of April, which was announced by Witzview, has increased +0.7 percent compared to the first half,” said Dong-won Kim researcher. “The prices of 32-inch and 55-inch LCD panels increased +1.3% compared to the first half of April, and prices of 65-inch and 75-inch panels recorded 0.5% and 1.1% respectively, showing good trend of prices.” said a slight decrease in prices of PC panels compared to the previous quarter.

While positive trend of LCD prices is continuing in second quarter, it is predicted that businesses can convert large OLED panels faster. “If Samsung Display’s QD-OLED conversion investment for 8th generation LCD lines starts in earnest in the second quarter, price of 32-inch TV panels will continue to rebound slightly due to psychological impact on reduction of supply.” said Kim. “For 65-inch, 75-inch TV panel prices, production of Chinese panel manufacturers will expand, operation of 8th generation LCD lines of Samsung Display will slow down.”

LG Display “expects OLED TV sales portion to account for mid 20% of total sales this year, and is to review switching LCD fab to OLED if necessary.”

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Kim Sang-Don, LG Display’s CFO, said in a conference call on the 25th, “It has been successful with regard to customer demand forecast and high-end positioning for large area OLED panels.” “OLED TVs accounted for around 15% of LG Display’s sales last year and that number is expected to grow to the mid-20% range this year.” he commented. “In 2018, the production for large area OLED panels will be in the range of 2.5 ~2.8 million units, which makes it difficult to meet all the demand due to the limited capacity. Therefore, LG Display plans to aggressively respond to the market demand by expanding productivity by reducing tact time, mass-producing large area OLED panels in its Chinese fab in 2019, and converting its domestic LCD fabs to OLED fabs, if necessary.” he said.

Also he added “It now has 15 big customers for its OLED TV panels, drawing more manufacturers from China, as well as key buyers Sony and LG Electronics, LG Display will strive to achieve good results in terms of profitability next year”.

Regarding small and medium-sized POLED, CFO Kim said, “As the investment cost is high with the high market volatility, we are considering very conservatively investment. We will make conservative decisions based on the best possible assessment of potential risks.” But he said, the company is constantly working in response to the expectations that POLED will become a design form factor not only for smart phones but also for automobiles and foldable. He further commented that the response and collaboration from its primary customers are favorable particularly for the automotive POLED, the investment stance is to be maintained; however, its speed and scale will be adjusted by monitoring its adaptability and market demand. In addition, for the question of the technical problem of small and medium-sized POLED which is known through recent media, he replied that it might not be filtered with lack of fact checking and it is not based on fact.

On the other hand, LG Display’s revenue fell 19.6 percent to KRW 5,673 billion in the first quarter of 2018 from KRW 7,062 billion in the first quarter of 2017 and decreased by 20% from KRW 7,126 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017. The company also had an operating loss of KRW 98 billion in the first three months this year, compared with the operating profit of KRW 1,027 billion in the first quarter of 2017. The net loss in the first quarter of 2018 was KRW 49 billion, compared with the net income of KRW 679 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

Saying “The loss was due to the weak demand for panels with the decline in LCD panel prices and an unfavorable exchange rate”, CFO Kim Sang-Don commented “ In order to secure future competitiveness, LG Display will reduce LCD investment and shift to OLED business to secure long-term profit. Given the company’s strategy of shifting to an OLED-focused business structure, it will continue to focus on differentiated products.”

LG Display “올해 OLED TV 매출 비중 20% 중반 예상, 필요하다면 LCD fab을 OLED로 전환 검토”

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김상돈 LG Display CFO는 25일에 열린 컨퍼런스 콜에서 “대형 OLED 패널 고객들의 수요와 하이엔드 포지셔닝과 관련해 성공적으로 판단하고 있다”며 “작년 OLED TV 매출 비중은 10% 중반대였지만 올해는 20% 중반대로 성장할 것으로 예상한다”고 밝혔다.

이어서, “2018년 대형 OLED 패널 생산은 250~280만대 수준으로써, capa 제한으로 인해 모든 수요를 감당하기는 힘든 상황”이라며, “택 타임 축소를 통한 생산성 확대와 2019년 중국 fab의 대형 OLED 패널 양산, 필요 시 국내 LCD fab을 OLED fab으로 전환을 통해 시장 수요에 적극적으로 대응 할 계획”이라 밝혔다.

또한, 편중 된 고객 구조를 15개 수준으로 확대 하였기 때문에 내년 수익성 측면에서는 좋은 성과를 내도록 노력하겠다고 언급했다.

중소형 POLED와 관련하여 김상돈 CFO는 “내부적으로 투자비가 높고 시장의 변동성이 큰 만큼 굉장히 보수적으로 투자를 생각하고 있다”며 “적절한 범위내에서 리스크를 최대한 고려하여 보수적으로 의사 결정을 해 나갈 것”이라고 답했다.

다만, POLED는 스마트폰 뿐만 아니라 자동차용과 foldable 등 디자인 폼팩터로 자리 잡을 것으로 예상됨에 따라 이에 대응해서 지속적으로 노력을 기울이고 있다고 언급했다.

특히 자동차용 POLED는 1차 고객들로부터 반응과 협업은 순조로운 상태라며, POLED의 투자 스탠스는 유지하되 자사의 적응력과 시장의 수요 등을 모니터링 하여 POLED 투자의 속도와 규모를 조절할 것이라고 밝혔다.

또한, 최근 미디어를 통해 알려진 중소형 POLED의 기술적 문제 질문에 사실 확인이 부족하고 필터링이 안된 것으로 보여진다며 팩트에 기초한 기사는 아닌 것으로 판단하고 있다고 대답했다.

한편, LG Display의 2018년 1분기 매출은 5조6753억원, 영업손실은 983억원을 기록했다. 전년 동기 대비 매출은 7조621억원에서 19.6% 감소했고 영업이익은 1조 268억원에서 적자로 전환되었으며 당기순이익도 6794억원에서 489억원 손실로 전환되었다.

김상돈 CFO는 “LCD 패널 가격 하락과 원화강세가 실적 부진의 원인으로 분석된다”며, “미래 경쟁력 확보를 위해 LCD 투자는 축소하고 OLED 사업 전환을 통해 장기적인 수익 확보에 나설 것”이라 밝혔다.

Approval of LG Display Plant in China, cementing the global No.1position in large OLED market

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LG Display has earned approval to invest in Gen 8.5 OLED panel plant in Guangzhou, China.  As the government, who has delayed the approval due to the possible technology leakage, finally gives ‘a conditional approval’ for the plan, the construction of large size OLED panel factory will embark on.

 

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) hosted ‘the 17th Industrial Technology protection Committee’ on June 26th, in which government officials and 20 civilian members participated to approve LG Display’s overseas expansion of OLED panel manufacturing technology on the condition of maintaining the localization ratio of equipment and materials to a certain level, preparing local security measures, and investing in next-generation technologies in Korea.

 

This approval would be a chance for LG Display to further increase the productivity of large size OLED panels and strengthen its market competitiveness.  In addition, they can expect sales growth and tariff reduction in Chinese TV market.  At the IMID 2018 held in BEXCO in Busan last August, LG Display CTO In-Byeong Kang said, “ Recently OLED TV has overtaken LCD TV market share in North and Central Americas and Europe, but not yet in China.  We will increase our market share of OLED TV in China, which is recently being raised as a largest TV market in the world.”

<Market share of global OLED TV market: LG Display>

LG Display plans to strengthen its presence in larger OLEDs by completing both the newly approved Guangzhou Gen OLED line and Paju Gen 10.5 line.  According to UBI Research, LG Display’s 55-inch and larger OLED panel shipments are projected to increase from 2.4 million units in 2018 to 10 million units in 2022.

<Expectation of 55-inch and larger OLED panel shipments 55 inch >

LG Display 중국 공장 승인, 대형 OLED 절대 강자 입지 굳힐 것

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LG Display의 중국 광저우 8.5세대 OLED 패널 공장 투자가 승인됐다. 그 동안 기술 유출을 이유로 승인을 미뤄왔던 정부가 ‘조건부 승인’을 하기로 결정하면서 TV용 OLED 패널 제조 공장의 중국 건설이 본격적으로 시행된다.

산업통상자원부는 지난 26일 정부위원과 민간위원 20여 명이 참여하는 ‘제 17회 산업기술보호위원회’를 개최하고 LG Display의 OLED 패널 제조기술 해외 진출 승인안을 승인했다. 정부는 중국 광저우에 8.5세대 OLED 설비 투자를 허용하는 조건으로 장비·재료의 국산화 비중 일정 수준 유지와 현지 보안 대책 마련, 차세대 기술 국내 투자 등 세가지 조건을 주문했다.

이번 승인을 통해 LG Display는 TV용 OLED 패널의 생산성 확대와 시장경쟁력을 한층 더 강화할 수 있을 것으로 보인다. 또한, 중국 TV 시장에서의 매출 증대와 관세 절감 효과도 기대 된다. 지난 8월 부산 벡스코에서 열린 IMID 2018에서 LG Display의 강인병 CTO는 “최근 OLED TV는 북중미와 유럽 premium TV 시장에서 LCD TV의 점유율을 추월하였으나 중국 시장에서는 아직 그렇지 않다”며 “전세계 최대 TV 시장으로 언급되는 중국에서 OLED TV 점유율을 더욱 더 끌어올릴 것”이라고 밝힌 바 있다.

<글로벌 OLED TV 시장 점유율, Source: LG Display>

LG Display는 이번에 승인 된 광저우 8.5세대 OLED 라인과 함께 파주 10.5세대 라인을 빠른 시일 안에 마무리 하여 대형 OLED에서의 입지를 더욱 더 견고히 한다는 계획이다. UBI Research에 따르면, LG Display의 55 inch 이상 대형 OLED 패널 출하량은 2018년 240만대에서 2022년에는 1,000만대까지 늘어날 것으로 전망했다.

<55 inch 이상 OLED 패널 출하량 전망>