AU Optronics to Ship AMOLED Panels Late This Year

Taipei, June 18, 2010 (CENS)--AU Optronics Corp. (AUO), a major supplier of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels in Taiwan, will kick off mass production and shipment of active matrix organic light-emit diode (AMOLED) panels for cellphone applications late this year, according to its chief technology officer F.C. Luo.

Industry sources said that, eyeing rapid-growing smartphone application markets, many international LCD makers, including Samsung and LG Display (formerly LG.Philips LCD Co., Ltd.), have announced major AMOLED capacity expansion projects.

In the first quarter, AUO announced its acquisition of Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. (TMD)'s Singapore subsidiary AFPD Pte., Ltd., a joint venture between Toshiba and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., to secure production capacity of low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) TFT-LCD, which can be substrates for AMOLEDs, showing AUO's expansion of its AMOLED lines.

Some cellphone-panel suppliers say increasingly more upscale smartphone models are turning to adopt AMOLEDs for their lightweight and higher image quality, faster response time etc., merits that will raise AMOLED's penetration rapidly in 2010.

AMOLEDs are stilled driven by LTPS TFT-LCDs, so sufficient LTPS capacity is the deciding factor for successful transformation of makers of small/medium-sized panels in the future.