LG Display said on Wednesday that the company is in a TV screen supply deal with Japan's Sony Corp, a major breakthrough for the South Korean company after Sony switched to Samsung six years ago for flat screen purchases.

LG Display, the world's No.2 producer of liquid crystal display, ended a TV panel supply deal with Sony in 2004 after the Japanese company set up a 50-50 percent LCD joint venture with Samsung Electronics, the world's top LCD manufacturer.

We resumed a TV panel supply deal late last year and it's mainly supplying small and mid-sized TV screens for now. But we hope our relationship expands further, said Han Sang-beon, executive vice president and head of LG Display's TV business division.

The South Korean company declined to reveal the volume or value of the deal, citing confidential agreement with its customers.

Sony, the world's No.3 flat-screen TV producer, has procured its TV panels mainly from Samsung and Sharp but it has sought to diversify its component procurement overseas manufacturers including Taiwanese to save costs on surging yen currency.

LG Display, which counts LG Electronics, Philips and Toshiba among its major customers, also said on Wednesday it expects the 3D TV market will grow sharply this year to account for more than 10 percent of total LCD TV shipments estimated at 220 million units.

It said it aims to control 70 percent of the global 3D TV market with LCD screens, which would be between 15 million and 20 million units.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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