Sunday 22 November 2015

The Future of Television

 

LG Display to be the Dominant Force in The Future of TV.

Agreed this is a pretty Bold Claim. If you will give me a few minutes of your Time I will explain why the Outcome predicted above is not only likely but in fact inevitable!!
It is a given that AMOLED TV is the New Gold Standard For TV. In the same way that the Advent of Colour TV Consigned B&W TVs to a Museum this Disruptive New Technology will send Existing TVs to the same Museum It Is That Good!!!   
The Company which is Best positioned to benefit from this VAST Future Market is without Doubt LG Display!! LG Display were among the first to appreciate the potential of AMOLED and while it has been a difficult Technology to Develop. The following is an Except from OLED-INFO which describes an incident which occurred on January 14th 2015 "An explosion at LG Display's OLED TV factory in Paju killed two employees and injured four others (which are currently recovering). The explosion was caused by a Nitrogen gas leak, and LGD does not know the cause of the leak yet."

In spite of the above mentioned Tragedy they have persevered with commendable Single Mindedness to the Point where they have now perfected it!! This Article by Display Mate makes for a compelling Read!! One cannot but be impressed by the final Comment from Display Mate Describing the LG Display TV they were testing!! "DisplayMate says that this is the best TV they ever tested - and it actually outperforms Sony's professional CRT monitors - that cost $50,000 and are regarded as the gold standard for picture quality".
The Single mindedness spoken of above has had the result that LG Display now have a clear Lead in bringing OLED to a MASS Market. Samsung on the other hand have dithered, they started developing a Programme to Build OLED TV but were disheartened by the difficulty and expense so shelved it!! Now that Samsung fully understand the inevitability of OLED and being aware of the Great Strides made by their bitter Rival LG they are once again determined to build AMOLED TV only now because of their timidity they are left to play catch up!!

A Report by Barrons some Months ago saw 40 to 70% upside for LPL. One reason they gave for the Stocks decline being "Guilt by Association" this with their Big Brother LG Electronics who have been having a Tough Time. In fact many Korean Companies have been Languishing as there has been a decrease in the Worlds Appetite for their Products!! Most notable among Korea's Walking Wounded being Samsung!!

Back in August LG Display announced that it was going to invest Eight and a Half Billion Dollars into Facilities for Manufacturing Large Oled Panels for TVs and flexible Screens for Smartphones and wearable s. This article gives some more context. The following Sentences in ITALIC taken from the Article question the feasibility of LG Displays going it alone, I will respond to this opinion later in my Scribbles!!
"Samsung, the world's biggest TV maker, has said OLED is still too expensive to produce for TVs.
As the two LG companies are the only major players pushing the technology for TVs, analysts and investors are skeptical whether they can by themselves create the economies of scale necessary to bring down prices enough for mass market adoption"         

As mentioned above the Chaebols (Korea's Giant Industrial Corporations) are struggling. This of course is of HUGE Concern to the South Korean Government. One strategy the Government has adopted is to Cosset and Pamper Companies engaged in bringing to Market Technologies which they (The Government) have identified as having the potential to put Korea back in the Game!! Oled and LG Display have become the Poster Boy for this initiative and this is just one more of the happy Catalysts which is going to make lots of money for Astute Investors in LG Display!! This links to an article with a little more detail!!
 

In reply to the above mentioned points which question LG Displays ability to create the economies of scale necessary to make these marvelous TVs affordable for the Mass Market. LG Display have recently entered into arrangements with several Chinese TV Manufacturers who will use LG Display's Panels to Build the TVs. Perhaps the icing on the cake is The announcement that VESTEL Europe's Largest TV Maker is to add OLED TVs to its Line-up in early 2017 the OLED Panels will almost certainly come from its ongoing Cooperation with LG Display!!

Fortune Favours the Brave and LG Display have shown great fortitude in the development of OLED TVs. As I hope this piece has shown LG Display is getting All its Ducks in a row, they have thought their Strategy through and are implementing it Flawlessly!! The Tax Breaks and other greatly beneficial measures promised by the South Korean Government have now Begun. I think it would be impossible to underestimate the importance the South Korean Government puts in having Companies Like LG Display Succeed and the lengths to which they will go to ensure that this happens!! This Link takes you to a Piece which depicts just one of the on going Collaborations which LG Display has been pursuing for at least the past two Years!!  These Collaborations Illustrate Perfectly the Sheer Commitment LG Display has made to ensure that when it starts Rolling Out " The Best TV in the World" in Volume and at Attractive Price Points it will Dominate the Market!!
http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/sciencetech/13101-partnering-lgd-succeeds-localization-major-curved-oled-panel-components

I should disclose that most of the Links and indeed the research into LG Display comes from a very Astute Financial Analyst who goes by the name of  Esekla (You can read some of his many important Articles on Seeking Alpha)

Right now the Stock is trading at $9.15 which is, in my Opinion a Gift Wrapped Bargain. I am quite Sanguine about being down several Thousand Dollars as I bought some time ago (When Esekla initiated coverage and the Stock was at $13.00)

Lots of other Companies are investing in OLED Technology one of the most formidable being MERK the German Life Sciences Company. Whilst competition, particularly from large Powerful Conglomerates is hardly to be welcomed, in this instance I feel LG Display are so far advanced with their plans for mass adoption that they are destined to capture the Lions share of this Huge Market

This Links to footage of LG Displays Flexible and also its Transparent Screens


                                                   UPDATE            

In the few Months since I first Published My/Eseklas thoughts on the Game Changing Developments Pioneered by LG Display the Share Price has Slowly and Steadily been increasing. Obviously word is beginning to leak out!!

This is an exciting time for followers of LG Display as it seems that hardly a Week goes By without another positive Development in the LG Story being reported somewhere. I will include a couple of them in this Update.

The Link Below is worth exploring as in it the people at Phillips make exactly the same point as the Testers at Display Mate who in the Article I link to above compare unfavourably a Samsung LCD TV with LG Displays Top Amoled Model Regarding the Superior picture Quality I have included this piece of text taken from the Phillips Article which will explain!! "During the last stage of the demonstration it became clear that Philips had no intentions to talk up the LCD display’s strengths. Instead, the company started praising OLED for its unique picture quality characteristics. And finally, at the very end of the session, the company confirmed that it will launch its first OLED TV later this year."

Phillips TV Ditch LED TVs in Favour of Amoled from LG Display

While getting Amoled TV to a Mass Market is quite correctly what LG Display is concentrating on (This comment from Esekla)   "For the time being, though, LG is correctly focusing most of its effort on AMOLED televisions, since it has no competition in that market". this innovative Company is NOT a One Trick Pony!! and it is also developing numerous other exciting and potentially highly profitable Products!!

 LG Display is ahead of the Pack in the development of Truly Flexible Displays and innovative Smartphones.While not competing numbers wise with Apple or Samsung they still finished up last Year having sold nearly 60 Million Smartphones!! The New LG G FLEX 2 has been winning all sorts of Awards Check out this Beauty

LG DISPLAY to Supply Oled Displays for the New Mercedes E Class

One of the Worlds Top Auto makers which prides itself on Innovation and Technical Excellence has chosen a 12.3 Inch Amoled Display from LG Display to go in its New E Class!!

Hold The Phone LG Display is also Supplying the "Information Display for the New TESLA Model
3

LG Display to build OLED display module factory in Vietnam

LG Display already Have 5 Plants Manufacturing OLED Panels which will go into The New Generation of OLED TVs Manufactured in their Own Facilities and in the Plants of the Growing number of Volume TV Manufacturers who they are Partnering with, Which include Several Chinese Manufacturers along with Vestel (Europe's Largest TV Producer) and Latterly right at the Top End Phillips!! Observers appreciate that the Company have long understood that in order to Profit from being the leading Player in this Quantum Leap forward in TV Technology  they have to bring it to a Mass Market.In fact when economies of Scale are realized OLED Panels will Actually be cheaper to make than the Inferior LCD Components which will go the way of 8 Track Tape Players!! One does not need a Diploma in Business Studies to understand that when LG Display can Mass Produce OLED Panels at a LOW cost per Unit, and that Hundreds of Thousands of Panels are being Distributed to Manufacturers Globally this will Feed Straight through to the Bottom Line!!

The Wins Just keep on coming for these Guys. I cannot help noticing nowadays that Esekla ( A very Precise and Measured Analyst not in the least given to Hyperbole) is becoming more positive about this Stock with each new Announcement!!


LG Display is also getting into Lighting!! Where LG Display appears to differ from its Competitors particularly Samsung is that while they are developing all kinds of Products using Amoled they are aware that the big leap forward for the Company will come with the Mass Adoption of  Amoled TV, something they have been working Tirelessly to achieve, Samsung by comparison has become distracted spending excessive time and resources on competing with Apple in the Smartphone Sector, and losing their nerve regarding the development of Amoled!!! LG Display have not taken their Eye off the Ball and Payday is approaching Fast!!!