AU Optronics has a 4.5-Gen AMOLED production line in Singapore, active since around 2013. The AFPD line is a small-scale operation, and AUO never managed to expand its capacity and compete with large AMOLED producers.
According to a report from Japan, AUO is now considering closing down the AFPD line, and converting it to microLED R&D production line. It could move it back to Taiwan, or retain Singapore as a hub for AUO in Southeast Asia. The company will make a final decision, it seems, in early 2024.
AUO is starting to commercialize microLED displays, but there are still technology challenges. It expects to reach production by the end of this year (according to some reports, it landed a deal to supply Tag Hauer's with wearable microLED displays for a luxury smartwatch. The company is also looking to commercialize automotive microLEDs, but this will take some years to achieve.
As AUO never managed to compete with the leading OLED makers, it made a decision some years ago to focus on next-generation microLED displays - pretty much leapfrogging over AMOLED technology (it also considered using inkjet printing to enable lower-cost OLED production, but that never materialized).
The AFPD facility was acquired from Toshiba Mobile Display in 2010. It was originally an LTPS LCD line, converted to AMOLED production in 2013.
