LG Display to expand production capacity of TV OLED factory in China
By 50% to 90K by June
LG Display is planning to expand the production capacity of its TV OLED panel factory in Guangzhou, China, TheElec has learned.
The factory, which makes panels based on 8.5th-generaetion (2200x2500mm) substrates, currently has a capacity of 60,000 substrates per month.
This will be expanded to 90,000 substrates per month by June, people familiar with the matter said.
The factory at Guangzhou currently has two lines, each with 30,000 substrates per month capacity. LG will be adding 15,000 substrates per month in capacity to each line for a total of 90,000 substrates per month. The factory will run at the upgraded capacity starting in July.
LG won’t be spending more for the upgrade. It can achieve the expansion as some of the equipment __ specifically deposition kits __ have now shortened tact time, while other equipment __ those for oxide thin-film transistor backplane __ were put in the factory beforehand on standby to be installed to handle 90,000 substrates per month in capacity.
Shortened tact time means products on the line will stop less, increasing the overall productivity of the line.
Once the upgrade in China is complete, combined with its capacity of 80,000 substrates per month at its factory in Paju, South Korea, LG Display will have a TV OLED panel production capacity of 170,000 substrates per month.
One of the people said the company has successfully stabilized production at Guangzhou and is seeing large demand for its large-sized (TV) OLED panels.
This could lead to LG Display also upgrading its factory at Paju.
The company has previously said last month at its conference call for the first quarter that it will review further expansion of its production lines after the third quarter.
LG Display is aiming to ship 7 million to 8 million units of large-sized OLED panels this year. This is 80% higher than the 4.5 million units it shipped last year.