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LG Electronics Inc. released yesterday its first AM OLED-screen phone at a retail price of 440,000 won ($465).

"It is not a trial model. It is a strategic product targeting the mass market as the market for cell phones with superb displays begins to form," said Cho Sung-ha, an LG executive in charge of its mobile phone business in Korea.

The handset, LG-SH150A, will be available through SK Telecom, Korea's largest mobile carrier, and is ideal for watching video clips, playing games and other multimedia functions, the company explained in a press release.

"Despite the high price of the organic display panel, we decided to deliver the handset at a reasonable retail price so that more customers can actually enjoy the benefits of the latest display technology," Choi Won-hyuk, an LG spokesperson said.

Models show off the LG-SH150A, a new handset by LG Electronics Inc. using AM OLED display technology, in Seoul yesterday. [LG Electronics]

Last year, Samsung Electronics Co. released its first AM OLED cell phone, the SPH-W2400 Special Edition, at a retail price of 599,000 won. But only 1,000 units were made available.

Short for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, AM OLED is billed as the next-generation display technology which industry officials hope will one day replace the liquid crystal display panels currently favored in electronic gadgets such as televisions, computer monitors and handsets.

AM OLED panels emit their own light, so there is no need for expensive backlighting, as in LCD panels. They produce brighter images, respond faster and allow wider viewing, though they use less power.

Despite its huge potential, the AM OLED display market is still in its infancy due to the high cost of mass production. Makers are focusing more on commercializing the lightweight and energy-efficient displays for high-end multimedia mobile phones and portable media players.

More cell phones with the newest display panels will hit local stores in the coming months. Samsung will roll out a series of AM OLED phones in the first half of this year, Lee Seung-han, a company spokesperson said.

According to the market research firm DisplaySearch, the AM OLED market will grow to $5.58 billion by 2011, up from $220.5 million in 2007.

By Lee Sun-young

(milaya@heraldm.com)