Editing by Li Panpan

AU Optoelctoncis (友达光电) is installing the first large-scale equipment batch of mask aligners from Nikon for the Phase II of its fab with the low-temperature polysilicon project in Kunshan, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. Eleven temperature-controlled container vehicles drove into the fab on March 7.

Image source: Kunshan Bureau of Commerce

According to the Kunshan Bureau of Commerce, this equipment series is the core of the entire production line. They are the most advanced equipment type of the sixth generation line, a high price for each piece of equipment. 

The project was launched on February 8, with a total investment of RMB1.8 billion ($284.96 million), and it has become one of the largest industrial projects in the city. The capital will be used to upgrade production lines and expand production capacity. 

The fab completed an output value of RMB6.95 billion ($1.1 billion) in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 49.5%. Its annual output value will exceed RMB10 billion ($1.58 billion) with the new project. 

AUO was formed in 2001 by the merger of Acer Display and Unipac Optoelectronics and listed on New York Exchange in 2002. It has three fabs on the Chinese mainland. 

There are currently more than 40 optoelectronic companies with a total investment of over $15 billion in Kunshan, one of the Chinese mainland cities with the most concentrated technology companies from the Taiwan region.