In July 2017 LG Display announced that it has decided to build a 8.5-Gen (2200x2500) OLED line in Guangzhou, China, to make OLED TV panels. The Korean government hesitated whether to approve this plan, as it sees OLED as a strategic technology Korea' economy, but by the end of 2017 LGD got the approval for its new OLED TV fab.
LGD is apparently still waiting for an approval from the Chinese authorities, but according to a new report from Korea, LG Display is expected to place the orders for the new fab equipment next month. This report says that total investment in this new fab is estimated at $3.17 billion - although LGD itself estimated the whole fab at $2.3 billion USD. Perhaps LGD only counted its own stake, as the local government in Guangzhou will award LGD with 30% the funds.
The new fab in Guangzhou will have a capacity of 60,000 8.5-Gen substrates each month, although at the first phase (scheduled for the second half of 2019) it will operate at half the final capacity.
Building a fab in China has several advantages - China has lower wages compared to Korea, and the fab is located very close to the very large and important Chinese market. But the main advantage is the government subsidies - according to DSCC this could mean the difference between profit and loss in this fab for LGD.
