Editing by Greg Gao

Sunrise Display Micro(昇显微), a Chinese AMOLED display screen driver IC design house earned 50 times more revenue last year and won “The Best New Company of the Year 2021 Award”granted by China Semiconductor Investment Alliance (CSIA) and JW Insights last December.

Qin Liang, founder and deputy general manager of Sunrise, said that the company successfully launched two AMOLED driver IC in 2021: a low power consumption smartwatch AMOLED driver chip and a cost-effective 90Hz display refresh rate smartphone AMOLED driver chip. The two products brought the company over RMB100 million($15.7 million).

Qin believes that Sunrise's last year achievements are mainly due to its technology accumulation in the past years. Its team has been developing AMOLED driver chips since 2012 and is the first in China to be devoted to AMOLED driver chips. The company's years of experience and technology upgrades give it the ability to quickly launch different types of AMOLED driver chips and smooth mass production and shipments.

AMOLED display screens have the advantages of low power consumption, thinness, flexibility, wide viewing angle, quick response speed, and have gradually become the mainstream display technology for consumer electronics and mobile devices. The penetration of AMOLED screens in smartphones has exceeded 40%, almost all flagship models of smartphone brands are using AMOLED screens, and it even infiltrated to mid-to-low-end smartphones below RMB2,000 ($314). For wearable products, AMOLED screens have an even higher penetration rate, reaching 70%-80%, and maintaining a 30% growth rate every year, Qin indicated.

With the further release of China's AMOLED panel production capacity in 2022, AMOLED driver chip players in the country will have greater market opportunities. Qin explains that in 2022, the leading domestic AMOLED driver chip players will gradually increase the global market share and enhance their influence. With the significantly increased penetration of flexible AMOLED screens, the AMOLED driver chips shortage will persist in the next two years.

Sunrise Display Micro was established in September 2018, with its headquarter located in Suzhou New District, Jiangsu Province in eastern China. It has developed its independent intellectual property rights in AMOLED display driver technology.

Sunrise Display's core team members are all from well-known chip design houses in the industry. 70% of the members of the R&D team have a master’s degree or above, according to its website.

Qin said that Sunrise's goal is to stay in the top three AMOLED chip suppliers in China.