Hon Hai Reportedly to Set Up LTPS-TFT Venture in Guizhou, China

Hon Hai Group of Taiwan, one of the world's largest EMS (electronics manufacturing services) providers, reportedly plans to invest in setting up a sixth-generation (6G) low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel plant in Guizhou, southwestern China, which calls for total investment of about RMB25 billion, according to a local newspaper.

Chinese cellphone vendor Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Guizhou Provincial Government are also expected to participate in the investment project, the report says.

Hon Hai reportedly will lead the LTPS TFT investment plan, while the group's affiliate Innolux Corp., recognized as the largest TFT-LCD panel supplier in Taiwan, is expected to provide necessary talents and specialized know-how. Innolux and Hon Hai, however, have refused to comment on the project.

Industry insiders say that with an eye on the strong demand for high-end cellphone panels, Hon Hai has begun developing business deployments in LTPS panel technologies, while the group is also planning to rapidly expand its production capacity of such product. Just in the first half this year, Hon Hai has announced its partnership with Innolux to jointly set up a 6G LTPS production line at one of Innolux's panel factories in Luchou, southern Taiwan. The new line is being installed with related manufacturing equipment, while its planned monthly production capacity is 23,000 to 24,000 substrates. The new line is scheduled to kick off production in the first quarter of 2016, and expected to help Innolux develop high-end cellphone-panel sales and further strengthen Hon Hai's vertical-integration capability, or from panel production to cellphone assembly.

Hon Hai's LTPS panel investment project in Guizhou reportedly is planned with an initial-stage production capacity of 25,000 to 30,000 substrates. If everything goes to plan, industry insiders say, the project is expected to kick off production in late 2018 or early 2019.

New LTPS-TFT Investment Projects
	Production Line / Location	Scheduled Start-up  Date
Hon Hai, Innolux	6G / Luchou (Taiwan)	Q1, 2016
AUO	6G / Kunshan (China)	2016
Hon Hai, Innolux	6G / Guizhou (China)	Late 2018 or early 2019
Shenzhen Huaxing	6G / Wuhan (China)	Late 2016
BOE	6G / Chengdu (China)	2017
Truly Opto-electronics	4.5G / Huizhou (China)	2016
Tianma Micro-electronics	5.5G / Shanghai (China)	2017

Huawei reportedly will participate in the investment project by injecting some RMB5 billion, with the major Chinese cellphone vendor's future orders expected to create a more solid base for the new LTPS panel venture.

Hon Hai has been vigorously investing in Guizhou in the past two years or so. The Taiwanese conglomerate announced last year to tie up with Alibaba in creating an e-commerce platform. This year, Hon Hai group chairman Terry Guo led a media group to visit a new data center in Guizhou. In 2014, Hon Hai operated only one data center in Guizhou, but the number has jumped to 11 this year; while Guo has stressed that his group plans to continue investing in the province.

Hon Hai's other investment target is India, which has been attracting investments from the Taiwanese conglomerate. Hon Hai has set up a factory in India for assembling mobile devices and LCD TVs, and the company reportedly plans to also set up a panel plant in the nation. Industry insiders say that Guo and innolux's top management have gone to India to assess related investment possibilities, including 8.6G panel factory, 6G LTPS panel plant, LCD module (LCM) facility, etc.