AUO, The No. 1 display company in Taiwan, has confirmed that it is building a new OLED pilot line (test production). AUO has been producing OLEDs in the low-grade deposition process production lines. However, it has introduced 'printing OLED' and 'micro-LED display' with the direction of next-generation technologies.
According to the industry on the 4th, HIMS, a domestic display equipment maker, is supplying AUO's OLED fine metal mask (FMM) tensile equipment for the deposition process. It said, "We know that the company is preparing for future mass production lines. If there is an investment made, it will be the 6th generation."
HIMS is the sole supplier of Samsung Display's FMM Tensioner. A FMM tensioner attaches the FMM to the OLED substrate during the OLED deposition process. By tightening the FMM, it removes the space between the FMM and the substrate, welds the outer shell, and cuts out the excess with a trimmer.
In August last year, Feng Xuang Lang, Chairman of AUO, said, “The material efficiency of the mainstream OLED deposition process is too low. I hope we can mass produce OLED by technological innovations of a printing method,” at ‘Touch Taiwan’, Taiwan's biggest display industry exhibition, during the press interview.
Chairman Feng said, “AUO will not compete in the OLED market. The WOLED mass production technology of LG Display is not the best choice. The true RGB OLED technology has a high level of technical difficulty. Also, because the small-size OLED production capacity of Samsung Display is so massive, it has created an oversupply.”
AUO launched 56-inch prototype OLED panels in 2013 based on the deposition process. However, it is currently mass producing a small number of OLED panels for smartwatches in low-generation deposition lines.
In February, Chairman Feng said, "We will release foldable OLED panels this year. We have the mass production capacity.” He also added, “We are mainly in charge of production capacity in the 4.5 generation line, but we have not ruled out the possibility of facility expansion."
An official from the domestic display industry said, "The talk of investment in display companies in China differs every day."
