Chimei Innolux Aims to Ship 500 M. Small/Mid-sized LCD Panels

Taipei, May 18, 2010 (CENS)--Chimei Innolux Corp. (CMI), merged between former Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), Innolux Display Corp., and TPO Displays Corp. on March 18, 2010, will likely challenge record annual shipment of small/mid-sized thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels of 500 million units, according to company vice president Jeff Hsu.

Hsu also said his company is developing more advanced technologies and products as organic light-emit diode (OLED) panels with low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) technology, claiming that many customers are waiting for CMI's planned capacity expansion.

The merger has enabled CMI to become the world's largest supplier of small/mid-sized panels with a global market share of 13.5%. iPhone and iPad have triggered demand for small/mid-sized touch panels, as well as raising importance of such panels.

CMI (in terms of combined shipments of the three companies) was also the world's largest supplier of cellphone panels in 2009 by delivering about 293 million such panels, for a global share of 14.8%, compared to Samsung Mobile Display (SMD)'s 14.2% and local counterpart AU Optronics Corp. (AUO)'s 8.3%. CMI supplied more than 40% of Nokia's panels last year, according to DisplaySearch, the display market researcher and consultant.

A senior analyst at DisplaySearch says existing players are taking up advantageous positions in the global small/mid-sized market, for newcomers are excluded from larger (over-10-inch) markets.

2009 Small/Mid-Size Panel Shipment
Rank	Company	Shipment (1,000 units)	Share
1	CMI	371,890	13.5%
2	SMD	317,637	11.5%
3	Wintek	234,525	8.5%
4	Sharp	216,806	7.9%
5	LGD	169,858	6.2%
	AUO	169,455	6.2%
6	CPT	150,257	5.5%
7	Truly	148,155	5.4%
8	Tianma	122,164	4.4%
9	Hitachi	94,776	3.4%
10	BYD	83,525	3.0%
	Others	672,062	24.4%
Total		2,751,115	100.0%
Source: DisplaySearch