South Korea’s LG Display Co. is yanking up the yield of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV panels by 50 percent from its plant in Guangzhou, China, as the super-thin panel joins the mainstream screen for home entertainment.

The dominant OLED TV panel maker has recently embarked on expanding its manufacturing facility at Guangzhou to boost the capacity for 8.5-generation OLED panels for TVs from current 60,000 sheets per month to 90,000, according to the industry sources on Sunday. The expansion work will be completed by the end of the third quarter.

The ramp-up at Guangzhou will boost LG Display’s monthly OLED TV panel output by 20 percent to 170,000 sheets. The company currently produces total 140,000 sheets of the Gen 8.5 large-sized TV OLED panels including 80,000 in Paju in Korea.

“As Guangzhou facility began operation in July last year, LG Display’s large OLED output capacity would double this year from last year’s (80,000),” an official from the industry said.

The global demand for OLED TVs is rapidly increasing. LG Electronics was first to roll out OLED TV in 55-inch display in 2013. Now nearly 20 TV makers are in the market.

Experts predict OLED TV shipments would top 10 million units next year, which would lead to further expansion by the dominant player. LG Display is mulling to move onto 10.5-gen OLED manufacturing from its Paju P10 fab..

By Lee Hong-hyuk and Choi Mira

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