Chi Mei EL (CMEL) - Page 5

In what was expected to be a strong quarter with Samsung SDI reaching their full production goal of 1.5 million AMOLED displays per month, the company barely reached the 100K mark down from 350K in Q2’07 as reported in DisplaySearch’s latest Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report.  The low production level left the OLED display industry with revenues of only US$78.3M in Q3’07 down 38% Y/Y and 31% Q/Q.  Shipments were 15.5M for the quarter, down 32% Y/Y and 22% Q/Q.  The low production for the industry was also impacted by LGE, one of the industry leaders, shifting resources from PMOLEDs to AMOLEDs and shipping only 310K units vs. 3.1M in the prior quarter and Sony with no AMOLED production as the company prepared to begin shipping the XEL-1, the world’s first AMOLED TV in December ’07.  The news was not all bad as:

• RiTdisplay had a record quarter and led in revenues with US$31.0M and units with US$6.4M.


• Pioneer was #2 in units and #3 in shipments, while Samsung SDI, the only company shipping both PMOLEDs and AMOLEDs, was #3 in units and #2 in shipments.


• Samsung SDI has already upped its production and expects to ship >2M units in Q4’07, while RiTdisplay should continue its explosive performance with shipments of more than 7M units, a new record for one supplier.


• Chi Mei EL also started production of AMOLED displays with volume of 16K, a number they expect to double in Q4’07.


• MED joined eMagin as the only two companies shipping microdisplay-based OLEDs.

Samsung SDI was able to announce a number of design wins with the Japanese mobile phone carrier AU  announcing AMOLED main display mobile phones by Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, Hitachi and Sanyo.  Previously, Samsung SDI announced design wins with Nokia and Kyocera.  The new AMOLED main displays are all in the 2.8 category, which should help the mobile phone makers recover the premium prices charged for AMOLED displays. 

During the FPD 2007 exhibition in Japan, CMEL showed a 25" AMOLED TV. CMEL said they will invest 30M$, building a 2nd OLED production line, to be operational in 3Q 2008 with a monthly capacity of 700,000 2" panels. They will also introduce 4.3" panels at 1Q 2008 and 7.6" ones at 2Q.

The new line will make 11" and 12" panels. They expect to offer 32" AMOLED panels during 2010.

Read more here (Digitimes) 

CMEL will begin shipping 2.8-inch AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) orders to China handset vendors in October or November, noted Chen.

The company will show its latest 4.3-inch and 7.6-inch AMOLED panels during at FPD International 2007 (October 24-26) in Yokohama, Japan. The 7.6-inch product is targeting the digital photo frame market. Meanwhile, the Taiwan AMOLED supplier expects to ship 8.1-inch segment products in the second half of 2008.

Digitimes reports that Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) recently announced it will make additional investments in its OLED subsidiary Chi Mei EL Corporation (CMEL) of NT$600 million (US$18.12 million).

Read more here (Digitimes)

Digitimes reports that CMEL has secured first orders (10,000 units) for 2.4-inch AMOLED panels from a European handset maker with shipments to kick off in September. Shipments will gradually increase after the handsets hit the market.

Read more here (Digitimes)

Chen updated that CMEL currently only houses one 3.5-generation (3.5G) AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) production line with a monthly capacity of 7,000 glass substrates. Maximum output of AMOLED panels is 300,000 units, he added.

Given that CMEL currently has its 2.4-inch panels under validation with leading mobile phone makers, present capacity may run short of demand very soon. Thus, the fund raising for further expansion is necessary, Chen said.

The second production line at CMEL will also follow the 3.5G standard with a monthly capacity of 7,000 units. Production is slated to be available during the second half of 2008, Chen detailed.

Read more here (Digitimes)

Chi Mei EL (CMEL), a subsidiary of Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), has delivered samples of 2.4-inch AMOLED panels to clients, and volume shipments may start in September of October, according to company president Zhe-yang Chen.

Chen said since starting volume production of AMOLED panels in May, CMEL has been actively sampling the products with clients. As validation by major international clients will take longer, CMEL expects shipments to see a significant increase in the fourth quarter, Chen added.

Read more here (Digitimes)

CMEL showcased a 4.3" AMOLED display. Sample shipments are slated for September 2007, and volume production and shipments are expected to start around December 2007. A life extends to "20,000 hours when lit at 50% luminance and 10,000 hours at 100%," a booth attendant said.

The materials and glass cover are made by DuPont.

Read more here (TechOn Asia)

Chi Mei El Corp (CMEL), the OLED manufacturing arm of Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, said yesterday it aims to start supplying displays for a top-five mobile phone manufacturer by the end of the year.

CMEL is in talks with several potential customers, including Samsung Electronics Co and Nokia Ojy, said Douglas Park, a vice president of CMEL.

"We hope to land at least one of them by the end of this year," Park said.

To cope with rising demand, Park said CMEL planned to spend NT$800 million (US$24.2 million) to more than double its monthly output to 1.2 million units by the first quarter of 2008, from it current 500,000 units.

In February, CMEL ramped up production of active matrix OLED displays for mobile phones, digital cameras and global positioning systems.

Read more here (Taipei Times)

The license, which is royalty bearing to Kodak, enables CMEL to use Kodak technology for active matrix OLED modules in a variety of small to medium size display applications such as mobile phones, digital cameras and portable media players. The agreement also enables CMEL to purchase Kodak's patented OLED materials for use in manufacturing displays. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.