Cheil Industries is turning to the development its high-tech materials for the 

IT industry as part of its strategy to nurture its key new growth engine. A Cheil 

Industries official test-operates an OLED product.(photos: Cheil Industries) 

Cheil Industries has opted to develop its high-tech materials for the IT industry as part of its strategy to nurture its key new growth engine that can assure its future growth and aims to secure a dominant position in the market before any rival company does.

Vice President Lee Suh-hyun puts emphasis on the subject whenever she has the time as its development of various electronic parts requires the efforts of the entire company from top executives down to staff and which cannot be overstressed.

Cheil Industries Vice President Lee Suh-hyun

 The vice president is at the center of the company’s strategy to become a global super high-tech firm like Germany’s Merck producing top-rated electronic parts and materials.

 Her projects to boost the company’s position as a globally ranked electronics parts and material producer has began to pay off one after another recently.

 The company’s sales figures show the rapid progress of the business sectors that the vice president has been taking charge. The company toted up 6.1 trillion won in sales last year with 1.5 trillion won coming from the electronic parts and materials sector or 26 percent of the annual sales and in the Q2 this year, the company’s 1.56 trillion won in the quarterly sales came from the electronics parts and materials and what stands out was 73 percent of operating profit came from the electronic parts and materials sales showing that the sector has become the contributor of the largest profit over traditional sectors such as chemicals and fashion.

 Cheil Industries to boost the new business sector continues: the company has taken over Nova Elida, the producer of OLED in Germany on Aug. 9 under its strategy to enter the OLED material production with the German OLED company being one of the leading companies in the area. Vice President Lee was said to be the one who initiated the idea to take over the German OLED maker.

 The company dedicated its OLED material production plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province in March, 2011 and succeeded in producing ETL going into the Galaxy 4 smartphones produced and marketed by Samsung Electronics, its affiliate and dominant member of Samsung Group.

 The company has also been taking measures to protect its intelligence property rights for its OLED technologies, taking over a 24 percent stake in the Intellectual Keystone Technology Inc. set up in Washington by Samsung Display Co., an affiliate of Samsung Group in a bid to strengthen the protection of its OLED technologies.

 Industry sources said that Cheil Industries felt the need to protect its Intellectual Property Rights on all of its technologies related to electronic parts and materials including OLED with the need growing for take over of additional firms and protecting its technologies and Vice President Lee played a key role in taking over a stake in IKT by the company.

 It was no exception by the company in the area of R&D activities with the company investing a lot of funds in its R&D center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi province in both manpower and facilities. About 400 research staff at the center are engaged in R&D in many areas including OLED, solar battery, the second battery, flexible display materials to boost the growth the electronic materials sector.

 Industry sources said Cheil has been in the process of changing its main business lines to electronic materials from the traditional lines such as chemicals and fashion and fabrics, among others.