AUO and CMI to Mass Produce AMOLED Early 2013

Taipei, Dec. 11, 2012 (CENS)--Both the top-two thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturers in Taiwan, Chimei Innolux Corp. (CMI) and AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), will start mass producing active matrix organic light-emit diode (AMOLED) panels early 2013, targeting 4.5-inch-plus smartphone application markets.

Some institutional investors said that both Taiwanese panel suppliers are expected to turn profitable in the fourth quarter of 2012, and the new AMOLED products are expected to further enhance profitability in 2013.

Duan Xing-jian, CMI's chairman and CEO, pointed out previously that his company has been aggressively focusing on adopting new technologies and now utilizes a 3.5-generaiton (3.5G) line with low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) substrate production processes for making AMOLED panels, with initial monthly of about 3,000 small- and medium-sized panels.

CMI is also eyeing the flexible display market, expecting its AMOLED products to be adopted by customers in high-end smartphone applications.

T.K. Wu, vice president and general manager of AUO's mobile solutions business group, disclosed that his company's mass production and delivery of AMOLED is around the corner, believing 4- to 6-inch AMOLED panels to be mainstream sizes in application products.

AUO also has high interest in flexible displays, and the company is carrying out a five-year government-sponsored Science and Technology Development Program (in its third year) to develop the most advanced technologies and products.

The Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) of Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) pointed out that more than 2 billion cellphones are expected to be shipped in 2013, 40% of which being smartphones, which will help build AMOLED panel market.

To help local panel suppliers better survive, the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has invested about NT$700 million (US$23.3 million) in installing a 2.5G AMOLED pilot factory in ITRI, to begin providing testing, inspection, and certification services to substrates up to 20-inch to local players.