Korea's LG Display has signed a five-year LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel supply deal with Apple, Associated Press reported. Although the scale of the contract has not been disclosed, LG Display revealed in a filing with the Korea Exchange that the company will receive an advance payment of US$500 million in January 2009. Details such as the number of panels to be delivered are pending further discussions between the two companies.

In related LG Display news, the company revealed on January 16 that it will invest 577.1 billion Won (US$426.91 million; US$1=1,351.8 Won) in a small-sized flat-screen panel production line, The Korea Times reported. LG Display expects to switch its investment to the production of next-generation AM-OLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode) panels or solar cells, according to said report. The new production line is projected to commence operations in the first half of 2010. For full-year 2009, LG Display projects an overall investment of two trillion Won (US$1.48 billion) to 2.5 trillion Won (US$1.85 billion) in flat-screen panel lines.