LG Display to invest $750 million in Vietnam OLED module plant

LG Display Co., a major South Korean display panel maker, will invest $750 million in its display plant in Vietnam to meet rising demand from electronics makers in Asia.

According to LG and Vietnamese media outlets on Feb. 8, officials in Hai Phong, a city in northeastern Vietnam, have approved LG’s latest investment plan, which will bring the Korean company’s total investment in the country to $3.25 billion.

LG Display will use the money to expand its OLED panel module production facilities. The company also plans to hire some 5,000 people at the plant by 2022.

At its Hai Phong factory, LG assembles OLED modules by combining panels with the display driver IC (DDIC) and related components for use in TVs and smartphones.

LG Display, the world’s largest OLED TV panel maker, set up the Hai Phong OLED module plant in 2016 by investing $100 million. The plant began operation in the fourth quarter of 2017 and has since expanded facilities with more investment and local hires.

RISING DEMAND FROM CHINA, INDIA

The latest investment comes amid rising demand in the stay-at-home sector from neighboring big markets such as China and India. Sporting events canceled during the pandemic last year may happen this year, raising expectations for increased demand for OLED TVs.

According to market researcher Omdia, global shipments of OLED TVs will climb to 6.89 million units this year, up 51.4% from 4.55 million in 2020. Global shipments of smartphones, which use smaller OLED displays, will rise 32.1% to 599.7 million units.

LG’s bigger crosstown rival Samsung Display Co. currently dominates the mobile device OLED panel market with over 80% share.

LG Display supplies its mobile panels to Apple Inc. for the US firm’s iPhone 12 model. More recently, the Korean panel maker began supplying smartphone panels to Chinese handset makers such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.