LG display in OLED supply talks with Japan TV makers

LAS VEGAS (Reuters): South Korean flat-screen maker LG Display Co Ltd. is in talks with Japanese television manufacturers to supply organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels, its chief executive said on Monday.

Currently LG Electronics Inc is the sole seller of the next-generation technology that could change the face of electronics displays. LG Electronics started taking orders for OLED TVs last week, hoping to get a jump on rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. and prop up flagging sales of televisions.

The 55-inch (140 centimetre) model, which at 4mm thick is slimmer than an iPad, costs 11 million Korean won ($ 10,300) and is due to go on sale in the United States in March.

“Japanese (TV) firms are very much interested in OLED panels and we are in talks with them for panel supplies,” LG Display Co chief executive Han Sang-beom told reporters at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday.

Considered the future of consumer electronics display, the OLED technology is more energy-efficient and offers higher contrast images than liquid crystal display, and is so thin that future mobile devices will be foldable like paper.