LG Display reports that its organic light emitting diode (OLED) TV business now turns a profit. The company, the world’s first mass producer of OLED TVs, began mass production of the OLED TV panels in 2013. Since that time, the company says it has diversified its customer base through steadily introducing cutting-edge OLED TV products including the Wallpaper OLED TV panels and Crystal Sound OLED (CSO) panels.
After five years of posted revenue growth, LG Display’s OLED TV panel business has finally made a profit in the third quarter of 2018. Driven by strong global purchasing, the sales volume of its OLED TV panels jumped to over 1.7 million panels in 2017. The volume rose from just 200,000 in 2013.
For the third quarter of 2018, panels for TVs made up 41% of the revenue in the third quarter of 2018, mobile devices comprised 21%, tablets and notebook PCs constituted 20%, and desktop monitors made up 18%.
“Panel area shipments in the fourth quarter are expected to increase by a low to mid-single digit percentage due to the seasonality effect. Panel price trends are expected to vary by product size and segment,” said Don Kim, CFO of LG Display.
He added, “2018 and 2019 are critical years for LG Display as it transforms into a more OLED-focused business structure. We will do our best to maximize profitability by expanding our OLED business portfolio while accelerating our pursuit of a differentiated strategy for our LCD business.”
