Report: LG to challenge Samsung in the OLED display business

The demand for OLED displays is increasing. Samsung is currently the biggest manufacturer of OLED panels for mobile devices in the world with a market share of 97.7 percent, according to market researcher IHS. The tech giant will soon face a lot more competition, as LG Display is expected to start mass producing small and medium-sized P-OLED displays soon.

According to a report from Business Korea, production is scheduled to kick off in the third quarter of this year. LG will initially only produce the panels in small quantities and sell them to smartphone manufacturers based in China.

However, the company has invested 1.99 trillion won (around $1.75 billion) in a 6th-generation P-OLED production line, which has a capacity of 15,000 units per month. The new production line will start operating in the second quarter of next year when LG will significantly increase the number of panels it can make.

LG sees a big business opportunity in the OLED display market, as manufacturers fear that the supply of panels will be limited this year. Google has even offered to invest a lot of money in LG just to make sure that it can secure a steady supply of OLED screens for its upcoming Pixel smartphones.

Based on the high demand, the South Korean company should have no problem selling its OLED displays and maybe even taking a few clients away from Samsung in the process. Some industry watchers are already reporting that LG might ink a deal with Apple for partially supplying it with its OLED panels. The iPhone maker apparently has very strict conditions that Samsung might not be able to meet.