LG Display invests in 6th generation OLED panel line

The new E5 Line is located at the Gumi Plant in Gyeongbuk Province, Korea, which will produce 7'500 input sheets per month using a 6th Generation size substrate sheet of 1'500mm x 1'850mm. The new line is scheduled to start mass production in the first half of 2017. The 6th Generation line is able to produce more than 200 cuts of a 5.5-inch product from a single substrate, which is nearly four times the production efficiency of a conventional 4.5th Generation line, which uses 730mm x 920mm substrate sheets. The main advantage of a flexible OLED display is the screen’s bending feature that is achieved by the use of a plastic substrate instead of a glass substrate as in a conventional OLED display. The use of the flexible OLED technology is now being expanded to smartphone, automotive and wearable device displays. LG Display aims to lead the flexible OLED market by offering customers differentiated value, with the accumulated technology skills from large-size OLED display production applied to flexible OLED displays. According to IHS DisplaySearch, a global market research firm, the flexible OLED market is expected to soar from 2015, with sales increasing from USD 3.5 billion in 2015 to USD 4.8 billion by 2021. In addition, LG Display signed a MOU on OLED investment and administrative support with the Gyeongbuk Province and Gumi City governments on July 23, with the company having been promised to receive administrative service support from the local authorities. LG Display has invested approximately KRW 14 trillion (EUR 10.9 billion) in Gumi facilities since the start of mass production at P1 in 1995. The additional investment of KRW 1.05 trillion (EUR 822.16 million) in the flexible OLED line is expected to create jobs and promote regional economic growth by creating synergies between the production of LCD and OLED displays.