LAS VEGAS ― LG Display, a major player in the international flat-screen panel market, said it intends to inject more investment into mobile organic light-emitting diode displays, according to its chief executive on Tuesday.

Han Sang-beom, LG Display’s chief executive officer, said the firm has already produced a plastic OLED prototype for mobile phones which is deemed to be thinner, lighter and unbreakable, in a meeting with the Korean press held on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show.

“As the new chief of LG Display, I’m concerned about three issues, which are OLED, plastic displays and how to differentiate ourselves from others,” said Han. “We already have partners that are in need of plastic displays and the development of the product is most definitely the future direction to take.”

Han’s remarks, however, contrast with what his predecessor Kwon Young-soo has claimed in the past. Kwon said the firm has no intention of following the footsteps of its rival Samsung Electronics by developing OLED displays for smaller portable devices.

Kwon also said that Samsung is misleading the market for smaller OLED displays, because smartphones and tablet PCs are not suitable in terms of picture quality, response time, energy consumption and contrast ratio.

“We’re currently in the process of drafting a plan involving the product positioning of plastic OLED displays on top of research and development,” said Han, who held his first press conference since being picked to spearhead the display giant last month.

On another front, the company said it will introduce its new 55-inch OLED televisions into the market by the second half of this year.

The firm will begin selling the full high-definition OLED TVs for the first time this year, aiming for the new category to take more than 3 percent of the market by 2015, said Han.

Mixing two core technologies ― white and oxide ― LG’s new OLED displays are designed to offer better picture quality, more affordable pricing and bigger sizes, he said.

“What is important is the cost competitiveness,” he said. “If it’s too expensive, it won’t be well received in the market.”

When asked why LG decided to adopt OLED technology for its TVs, an LG display executive said it was because of the product’s wide viewing angle and unique design.

Another LG Display executive, however, added that mass production of the company’s OLED displays for TVs will not begin until 2014.

“I plan to focus on projects that can drive our future growth, such as OLED and plastic OLED, and I also believe that profit will see a rise this year,” said Han.

By Cho Ji-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent
(sharon@heraldcorp.com)