In June 2012 we first heard about AIV-BEX's ambitious AMOLED project. Later in 2013 we posted more details about this 4.5-Gen Oxide-TFT AMOLED production fab project. A few months ago I heard that AIV-BEX abandoned the OLED project, but according to some new information this is not true, although they do face some delays to their original plan.
In 2013 AIV-BEX planned to start production in 2014, but now according to the OLED Association, this was delayed to Q4 2015. According to a private investor on a forum, the company assured him that the project is still running but is slower than expected.
AIV-BEX aim to start with low resolution 4.3" panels (WVGA, 220 PPI). Or at least that was the plan in 2013, but since then smartphone panel resolution increased so they may need to adopt higher resolution panels. AIV-BEX's 4.5-Gen line will have a monthly capacity of about 30,000 sheets, enough to make about 40 million 4.3" AMOLED panels in a year. They use Oxide-TFT backplanes (those will be produced by Guangzhou New Vision and delivered to AIV-BEX).
There were some reports that AIV-BEX will adopt ink-jet printing, but it seems that this will not be the case, at least in their first production line. In October 2013 AIV-BEX also said they are in talks for a possible collaboration with Taiwan's CPT, but I do not know if this ever materialized.
The total investment in this project was estimated at around ¥30 billion (or about $4.82 billion, including building all the infrastructure such as roads and power lines), and the first line (with the 30,000 monthly sheet capacity) will cost ¥3.6 billion ($580 million).
AIV-BEX's parent company is a very thinly-traded public company, and their current market cap is only $2 million. Even though they claimed they had investor lined-up for their project and also local government support, I was always a bit skeptical about this project. But it seems they are progressing and may end up surprising me in 2015.
