Kolon Industries’ mass production lines for transparent CPI film are running on full capacity, according to the company during its fourth quarter earnings report on Feb. 20.
“Our CPI mass production lines are running on full capacity, and we are currently testing film to apply to different areas,” said Noh Jung-suk, a Kolon Industries executive.
"We have added on new clients, and we believe the PI has become applicable for a wider range of products,” Noh said. “We now expect to supply to not only smartphones, but tablets as well.” The company did not reveal its CPI revenues, saying only that it has seen significant progress.
Kolon Industries formed its first transparent PI lines in Gumi in 2018, and began mass production in the latter half of 2019. In November 2019, Kolon Industries had said that it hopes to unveil “meaningful” figures for its CPI sales this year.
Kolon is known to be a pioneer in the field of CPI film. Noh said the company is now drawing on ideas for customizing the film for each client, and to better protect the cover windows. For Samsung’s foldable phones, a hard coating is applied to the cover window before adding on the CPI film.
Touching on the coronavirus, Noh projected lower earnings for the first quarter of this year, as some of its China-based plants have been showing low operation rates due to the virus.
In 2019, Kolon Industries’ sales fell 1.2% to KRW 4.4 trillion, while operating profit rose 3.6% to KRW 172. 9 billion. Both figures fell below the market consensus.
Its film and electronic material division stood at KRW 592.2 billion and an operating profit of KRW23.2 billion.
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