TCL Buys LG’s Final LCD Plant For $1.5 billion

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Sound & Video Contractor.

After rumors of TCL offering the highest bid for LG Display’s final LCD manufacturing plant, LG has confirmed that it will be selling the Guangzhou facility to the Chinese tech company for approximately $1.5 billion. Transfer of the plant will occur on March 31, 2025. This marks the final chapter for LG Display in the LCD business, as the company is now pivoting to exclusively focus on OLED displays. Manufacturers have increasingly had to rely on Chinese companies for LCD displays, and this move cements China’s monopoly of LCD manufacturing.

LG Display provided the following statement to Reuters in regards to the company-wide commitment to OLED:

“We plan to concentrate more on the OLED business to enhance our competitiveness and build stable profit bases. We also expect that the capital from the (plant) sale will help strengthen our financial stability.”

The following was originally published August 7, 2024:

The exodus of Korean display manufacturers from LCD continues, as Korean media is now reporting that LG Display is selling its sole remaining LCD manufacturing plant, located in Guangzhou, China. According to The Korea Economic Daily, TCL is the most likely buyer of LG Display’s plant, having outbid competitor BOE Technology Group. The Chinese company previously purchased Samsung’s LCD production assets in 2022. LG Display’s deal with TCL is rumored to close by the end of the year, with an expected value of 2 trillion won, or $1.5 billion.

Like Samsung, LG Display plans to refocus its efforts on the OLED industry, and will rely on Chinese display makers for LCD panels going forward.

The following was originally published May 13, 2024:

LG Display may be following in Samsung’s footsteps and getting out of the LCD panel business. Last year, Samsung made headlines when it was revealed it would cease LCD panel operations to focus on OLED and quantum dot displays. The Korea Herald is now reporting that LG Display is exploring avenues to sell off its last LCD plant, as the company ceased LCD production in Korea in 2022.

LG Display disclosed its intentions to determine the best use of its Guangzhou-based LCD assets in a regulatory filing last March, stating, “We are currently reviewing various options on the strategic use of our LCD asset, including the manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, but nothing has been decided yet.”

The newspaper goes on to report that several Chinese companies, including BOE and COST (a branch of TCL), as well as financial investors, are anticipated to engage in a bidding war for the LCD plant.

LG Display’s intent is just the latest in what appears to be a mass abandoning of LCD panel manufacturing by Korean companies, an industry that has seen growing competition from Chinese manufacturers. Due to the pivot to OLED production, the Korea Display Industry Association reports that Korean companies accounted for 74.2% of global OLED sales in 2023.

See also: LG’s Luxury Home Displays Now Available Through ProSource