LG Display is merging its businesses to specialize in OLED technology, a sector the company considers its next generation growth engine. To keep up with accelerated growth in the OLED market, the company intends to merge and restructure existing distributed business structure by product to optimize efficiency and synergy, reported Business Korea.

Industry sources revealed on Wednesday, LGD carried out its employee reassignments for next year on the Dec. 1, 2016 and completed the reorganization by the 12^th. Following the latest reshuffle, the company merged five existing business divisions—TV, OLED, IT, mobile and AD down to three—TV, IT and mobile. The group’s Vice President Hwang Yong-gi will lead the TV business division, while Vice President Choi Hyung-seok and Vice President Jeong Kyong-deuk be leading the mobile business division and the IT divisions, respectively.

LG open frame OLED display for commercial applications. (Photo courtesy of LGD)

Company restructure this year is aimed to improve the OLED businesses, which is the core for future growth, and reorganize the division by product. Initially, the TV business division will accelerate the OLED panel business by merging the LCD TV business and OLED TV business, which is managed by the OLED business division.

Even the mobile business division will be swapping its focus from existing LCD panels to plastic OLEDs (P-OLEDs) following the acquisition of next-generation businesses from the OLED division. LGD invested KRW 1 trillion (US$856.16 million) in 2015 to expand the business of P-OLED panels that are used in smartphones, and is in the process of establishing an E5 line in the Gumi plant.

The E5 line will be in operations by the first half of 2017 to manufacture OLED panels for Apple’s next generation iPhones. The company also is setting aside KRW 2 trillion investment in July and is constructing the new E6 line, which will produce P-OLEDs, at the Paju plant in Gyeonggi Province. The mobile business division manages the development and production of P-OLEDs. 

The IT business division will remain largely focused on the LCD monitor and laptop businesses as before but has acquired partial businesses of the advanced display business division, which used to be fully responsible for Apple. Additionally, LGD merged the OLED lighting business division to the TV business division, the automotive display division with the mobile business division and industrial display business division to the IT business division.