Tablet demand drives up LG display sales in Q2

Estimated revenue from tablet panels up 126 per cent

LG Display saw tablet panel revenue surge 126 per cent to $610m (£389m) in Q2 from Q1 as a direct result of demand for Apple's iPad device.

The figure is from research by US-based analyst IHS iSuppli, which found that demand for small to mid-size displays – defined as those less than 10in wide used in mobile tablet devices, smartphones, and digital still cameras – has gone on growing strongly worldwide for LG's displays business.

Vinita Jakhanwal, senior manager for research into the small to medium-size displays market at IHS iSuppli, also wrote in the announcement that LG Display has indicated it will convert some of its current Generation 6 amorphous-silicon (a-Si) LCD fab capacity into low-temperature polysilicon (LTPS) LCD.

This move is likely to guarantee its ability to meet smartphone-related demand in future, Jakhanwal suggested.

"The company's tablet panel sales performance was up a stellar 126 per cent from $270m in the first quarter," Jakhanwal said. "The company started volume shipment for the new iPad panels – the third iteration of Apple's best-selling media tablet device – during the second quarter... on top of furnishing panels for the older iPad 2 version."

The company also supplies tablet panels to players such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Research In Motion, according to IHS iSuppli.

The sales percentage of tablet panels in the South Korean firm's overall product line doubled to 10 per cent between the two quarters. Total sales revenue stood at $6.12bn by the end of Q2, compared with its $5.48bn in Q1.

"LG Display can be grateful to Apple," Jakhanwal wrote. "It expects its tablet panel sales to increase in the third quarter by anywhere from 40 to 50 per cent, which would mean a corresponding rise in LG Display's tablet panel revenue to between $850m and $920m."