With New Investment, Screen-Maker Visionox Sees Bright Future in Bendable Displays

Display-panel manufacturer Visionox Technology Inc. said it has forged an agreement with a local government to build a 44 billion yuan ($6.3 billion) facility to churn out active-matrix organic light-emitting-diode (AMOLED) displays, as it bets on the mass adoption of bendable screens in smart gadgets.

The company has signed a partnership framework with the government of Hefei in East China’s Anhui province, according to a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Saturday (link in Chinese).

Visionox and the Hefei government plan to set up a joint venture with 22 billion yuan in capital. The government will inject 18 billion yuan and Visionox will provide 4 billion yuan, the filing said. The facility, which will use the latest sixth-generation substrates, is designed to have a production capacity of 30,000 sheets a month.

Beijing has made development of the country’s panel industry a strategic part of its national plan and local governments are rushing to foot the bill as China tries to move away from lower-end manufacturing into more high-tech products.

In August 2017, larger rival BOE Technology Group Co. Ltd. announced a partnership with the Wuhan city government for a 46 billion yuan production facility designed to manufacture 10.5-generation liquid crystal displays, the main components used to make large TV and video screens.

BOE announced a 96.5 billion yuan expansion in March that will include a plant for AMOLEDs in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing. The company aims to be able to produce 48,000 sheets a month at the facility by the end of 2020.

Visionox said Saturday it aims to have the first AMOLED prototypes ready in less than 21 months after construction of the plant begins, and be able to begin mass production within 25 months. The statement didn’t specify when construction would start.

The partnership “will shore up our company’s offerings, and increase our standing in the industry,” Visionox said.

Contact reporter Jason Tan (jasontan@caixin.com)