AU Optronics (AUO) president Paul Peng has indicated plans to mass produce 4.3-inch AMOLED panels in the third quarter. The product has resolutions up to 257ppi, the highest AMOLED resolution in the industry.
Peng said the company originally planned to start AMOLED mass production in the second quarter, but there was a delay.
Process technologies and product design are not the only difficulties for AMOLED production, Peng said. AMOLED production must involve tight collaboration with palyers from the upstream material suppliers and the downstream end-market so as increase teh value of the products, he added.
AUO has been developing in-cell touch solutions incoporated into AMOLED panels, Peng said. The company is currently co-developing in-cell touch-enabled AMOLED panels with clients, and samples will be delivered in the second half of year, with the products expected to be adopted for use in handsets, the AUO president disclosed.
According to Peng, shipments of first generation one glass solution (OGS) touch panels have been high and the firm plans to focus on commercial production of OGS touch panels for applications such as ultrabooks and Windows 8 tablet PCs in the third and fourth quarters. Nevertheless, touch applications for notebooks will only account for 2-3% of total products in 2012. AUO noted that second-generation OGS touch panels, similar to touch on lens, will begin commercial production in the third quarter at the earliest. This product will be used for smartphones, added AUO.
Peng indicated that AUO is not a touch panel firm, hence it hopes to combine touch technologies with LCD panels to provide total solutions and increase ASPs. Despite the current focus being Android tablet PCs, the firm also has 24-inch OGS touch panels for all-in-one (AIO) PCs.
Paul Peng, president of AUO, reveals plans to mass produce 4.3-inch AMOLED panels in 3Q12
