BOE Launches Gen 6 Line in Chengdu, Firmly Establishing the City as a Worldwide Base for the Photonics Display Industry

CHENGDU, China, May 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 8, 2015, the groundbreaking ceremony of  BOE Gen 6 LTPS/AMO-LED production line was held in Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Chengdu Hi-tech Zone). The whole project is considered a milestone in the Chengdu electronic information industry which will attract an investment of RMB 22 billion (3.54 billion dollars).

BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., founded in April 1993, is the world's leading supplier of semiconductor display technologies, products and services. BOE's display products are widely used in a broad spectrum of applications such as mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, monitors, TVs, vehicle displays and digital information displays. 

According to BOE, the new production line is intended to produce high-end mobile phone panels and new displays for mobile devices. It has a design capacity of 45,000 glass substrates per month and involves a total investment of RMB 22 billion. The project will commence in the second quarter of 2015 and is expected to come into operation in the first half of 2017.

BOE and Chengdu Hi-tech Zone have enjoyed a partnership for many years. In 2007, BOE invested RMB 3.1 billion to build the Gen 4.5 TFT-LCD project in Chengdu and in 2011, BOE expanded the Chengdu LTPS TFT-LCD/AMOLED production line to offer over 30 different kinds of product. In 2013, Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. achieved sales revenue of RMB 4.4 billion and export sales of 600 million dollars.

According to NPD DisplaySearch, the demand for LTPS panels will continue to grow with the popularity of high-resolution smart phones and increasing sizes of smart phone screens. In 2013, the demand for LTPS panels was 3.288 million m² and that for AMOLED panels was 1.376 million m². It is expected that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of demand for LTPS panels will reach 24.1% and that for AMOLED panels 40.7% in 2020.

Industry insiders comment that the new production line in Chengdu, once completed, will further increase BOE's competitiveness in high-end displays of small and medium sizes. It means that the company will gain greater overall strengths in high-performance mobile phone panels and displays for mobile devices, a higher proportion of products with higher gross margins, and better capacity to withstand market fluctuations.

"As a leading city in Southwest China, Chengdu owns an integrated industrial chain of the electronic information industry, multiple talents and human resources, a massive market and favorable transportation and logistics infrastructures, which give it its competitive advantage in developing the photonics display industry", says Liu Xiaodong, COO of BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd. With the benefit of the Gen 6 production line, BOE will use Chengdu as a base from which to expand into larger global markets, largely enhancing the competitiveness of its high-end display products.

For Chengdu, the vast amount of investment by BOE is the icing on the cake for strengthening the city's global influence in the electronic information industry. According to Wu Kai, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Chengdu Municipal Committee; Party Secretary of CPC Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, the deeper cooperation with BOE will promote the structural optimization and sustainable development of Chengdu electronic information industry, while increasing its impact in the new-type display industry.

According to Kai, both the provincial and municipal governments have put the project high on the list of priorities. As the host for welcoming the project, Chengdu Hi-tech Zone has organized an interagency task team, responsible for tracking the process and "seamlessly connecting" with BOE. Now, the preliminary work such as recording of the project, setting up a regulatory plan, capital increase registration, entrusting loans and land transfer is progressing well. In addition, the task team and BOE have also made a comprehensive schedule for the construction and operation of the project in the next two to three years, in which some procedures are timed in days.

Besides BOE, both China National Building Materials Group Corporation and TIANMA Microelectronics Company, Ltd. have established manufacturing bases in Chengdu. In mid-August 2014, China Electronics Corporation announced it is to invest RMB 28 billion to build a Gen 8.5 Panel production line project in Chengdu, and to shape it into one of the most advanced and competitive LCD production lines in the future. 

"In the area of new-type display, Chengdu Hi-tech zone will focus on updating the industrial generations", says Wu Kai. "In future, Chengdu Hi-tech zone will continually enhance the productivity of the Gen 4.5 TFT-LCD production line, while introducing more advanced generations of production lines like TFT-LCD 8. It will also develop PMOLED, AMOLED, laser display devices and 3D display products making Chengdu the most influential manufacturing base in the photonics display industry in worldwide."

SOURCE Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone