In brief: LG has been looking for ways to expand its display business to more applications, and one technology that shows high potential is its transparent OLED signage, which is headed for sliding doors, train windows, and retail stores.
LG may have found a new place for OLED panels, and it's sliding doors, which is every bit as crazy as it sounds. To that end, it has forged a partnership with Swedish manufacturer Assa Abloy Entrance Systems which was announced today.
The South Korean tech giant is one of the leading producers of OLED panels for everything from smartwatches, phones and tablets to laptops, VR headsets, smart TVs, and even rollable TVs. Assa Abloy is known for its long history of developing automated doors for residential, commercial, and industrial markets with sales of over $11 billion in 2019.
The two parties are working on a project that will integrate LG's transparent OLED signage technology into automated glass sliding doors, which will be powered by SuperSign software.
Earlier this year, LG revealed its transparent displays had been integrated into the windows of subway trains in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, with plans to also integrate them into retail store windows in the near future.
According to Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, the transparent display market is expected to grow on average 46 percent per year, which should translate into annual sales of around $5 billion by 2024. Samsung has mostly given up on making transparent displays, with reports of the company having ceased production in 2016. This gives LG an opportunity to capture a big share of that market, although we do know Samsung is at least toying with the idea of transparent displays for smartphones.