BOE has plans to construct an 8.5-Gen AMOLED production line with a capacity of 30,000 monthly substrates to produce IT displays for laptops, tablets and monitors. The company aims to build the B16 factory in Chengdu, Sichuan.
Asus ZenBook 17 Fold OLED (BOE panel)
According to Korea's ETNews, BOE is facing delays with its B16 plans. The company is seeking support from the local government, but it has yet to gain support.
ETNews reports that the cost of BOE's fab, was set at 68 billion Yuan,or $9.6 billion USD. This was deemed too much for the local government of Sichuan, and BOE is now looking to reduce the investment to 60 billion Yuan (around $8.5 billion USD). The authorities are worried that BOE will not be able to turn a profit, as it is still struggling with low yields and small orders from Apple that have not justified the huge investment in its current OLED fabs.
China's government in Beijing actually hoped for BOE to build the fab in Beijing, but BOE wanted to locate the fab close to its existing two OLED fabs in Sichuan (Chengdu and Miangyang). It seems this is also causing delays in the approval of grants for BOE's new IT AMOLED fab.
BOE hoped to start powering up the fab in 2025, but it seems that this is no longer likely to happen as it has yet to gain approval and start ordering equipment for the new fab.
