LG Display Merges Business Divisions to Focus on OLED
http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/ict/16766-focusing-oled-lg-display-merges-business-divisions-focus-oledSEOUL,KOREA
15 December 2016 - 2:00pm
Cho Jin-young
LG Display has made the movement to turn into a company specialized in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which is considered a next-generation growth engine, by carrying out intense reorganization of the merger of its business divisions. Keeping pace with the rapid growth of the OLED market, the company plans to improve the efficiency and synergy effect by merging and restructuring the existing distributed business structure by product.
According to industry sources on December 14, LG Display carried out its regular personnel reshuffling for next year on the 1st and completed its reorganization on the 12th. With the latest reshuffle, the company merged the existing five business divisions – TV, OLED, IT, mobile and AD – into three – TV, IT and mobile. Vice President Hwang Yong-gi will lead the TV business division, while Vice President Choi Hyung-seok and Vice President Jeong Kyong-deuk will head the mobile business division and the IT divisions, respectively.
This year’s reshuffle is based on to bolster the OLED business, the key part of future growth, and to reorganize the divisions by product. First, the TV business division has decided to accelerate the OLED panel business by merging the existing liquid crystal display (LCD) TV business and OLED TV business, which was managed by the OLED business division.
The mobile business division will also shift its focus from the existing LCD panels to plastic OLEDs (P-OLEDs) after acquiring the next-generation business from the OLED business division. LG Display invested 1 trillion won (US$856.16 million) last year to expand the business of P-OLED panels which are used in smartphones, and is now establishing the E5 line in the Gumi plant. The E5 line is expected to be operated at the first half of next year and it will manufacture OLED panels for Apple’s next-generation iPhones. The company also decided to make 2 trillion won (US$1.71 billion) investment in July, and it is currently setting up the new E6 line, which produces P-OLEDs, at the Paju plant in Gyeonggi Province. Accordingly, the mobile business division now manages the development and production of P-OLEDs.
The IT business division will keep focusing on mainly the LCD monitor and laptop businesses as before but it has acquired partial businesses of the advanced display business division, which used to be fully responsible for Apple. In addition, LG Display merged the OLED lighting business division, which was acquired from LG Chem, to the TV business division, the automotive display business division to the mobile business division and industrial display business division to the IT business division.