(JW Insights) May 12 -- Visionox Technology (维信诺), a Chinese manufacturer of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, has discovered a new production technique that greatly reduces the cost of making medium-sized and large OLED displays and will enable the screens to be applied in a greater range of scenarios, reported Yicai Global on May 10.
This new technology, whose intellectual property rights belong to Visionox, no longer requires the use of fine metal masks in the production of OLED displays, co-president Yan Ruoyuan told Yicai Global on May 9 at the World Ultra-High-Definition Video Industrial Conference 2023 in Guangzhou, southern China’s Guangdong Province.
Zhang Deqiang, chairman and president of Visionox, said the high production costs of medium- to large-sized OLED display panels, due to the use of fine metal masks, has led to a relatively low penetration rate. For instance, South Korean display titan Samsung’s wastage of materials during the OLED production process is huge.
Visionox’s breakthrough not only helps reduce production costs, but will also enable the displays to be used more widely, Zhang said. Visionox is teaming up with companies along the industrial chain to develop more application scenarios. For example, it is working with Hongqi, the luxury marque under FAW Group, on in-car OLED displays.
Visionox’s factory in Hefei, eastern China’s Anhui Province, will start to install the equipment needed to apply this technology in the second half and trial production will begin from the end of the year, Zhang said. There are likely to be a number of bugs that need to be ironed out during the trials, although the samples made using this technology were problem-free, he added.
Once mass production of its sixth-generation of flexible OLED panels starts, the screens will first be used in medium-sized in-car displays, electronic hardware displays and virtual reality screens that have higher commercial value, Zhang added.
The use of medium-sized OLED displays is growing rapidly and is extending from smart watches and mobile phones to other electronic hardware. For example, US tech giant Apple plans to adopt OLED displays on its iPads and laptops Macbooks next year.
As more breakthroughs are achieved, China’s homegrown OLED displays will become more popular, which will result in increased market share, Yan said. This year, China is expected to produce more than half of the world’s OLED screens.
By 2027, the world’s output value of OLED display panels is expected to be $56.6 billion, and this could rise to as much as RMB500 billion ($72.2 billion) by 2030, Yan said.
Founded in 2001, the Beijing-based Visionox went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010. The company provides products for consumer electronics, industrial control instruments, and financial communications industries. It has applied for 12,000 key OLED patents, according to its website.
(Chen HX)
