China’s largest display maker BOE has temporarily halted the operations of its new Gen-10.5 LCD production line in Wuhan of Hubei amid the latest coronavirus outbreak, according to industry watchers on Feb. 5.
Experts said the impact is unlikely to be too damaging, since the plant began operations only in September 2019, and is still working on ramping up its capacity.
Despite this move, BOE has yet to issue a formal statement about its response to the deadly virus that has claimed the lives of more than 700 Chinese nationals. Others display makers such as CSOT and Tianma that also have production lines in Wuhan recently said in regulatory filings that their facilities are operating as normal.
CSOT said on Feb. 2 that its T1, T2 and T6 lines in Guangdong, along with the module facilities in Huizhou are all running as usual. T1 and T2 are the Gen-8.5 LCD lines that is operating at full capacity. The Gen-11 T6 line completed its ramp-up at the end of 2019.
The T3 and T4 lines that are responsible for manufacturing small and mid-sized LCD panels are located in Wuhan, but CSOT said all systems are go. Regarding future prospects, the company said there could be short-term disruptions.
The Gen-6 LTPS LCD panels manufactured at the T3 plant is capable of supplying up to 150 million smartphones. At its T4 plant, CSOT began to ship from the Gen-6 flexible OLED line for the first time in 2019. There, CSOT is setting up two more production lines, which each line capable of producing a monthly 15,000 panels.
Tianma is also adding an OLED line at its Gen-6 flexible OLED facility in Wuhan, but the work hasrecently been put on hold. Tianma’s key producing facilities are located in Shanghai and Xiamen.
Tianma said on Feb. 4 that the firm has been experiencing some problems in various areas, such as raw material supplies, employees and others.
Meanwhile, Samsung Display and LG Display each run Gen-8.5 LCD lines in the cities of Suzhou and Guangzhou, both of which are said to be under less impact from the coronavirus.
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